? LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 






\ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, fl 
1 '^<%''^^^*^'%''«p'^^ <^<^'%><^^>«^^ <%,^^^,gi 



Egypt and Iceland 



IN THE YEAR 1874. 



BY 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 



r 






NEW YORK: 
G. P. PUTNAM^S SONS, 

FOURTH AVENUE AND TWENTY-THIRD STREET. 

1874. 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 

BAYARD TAYLOR, 
[n the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 






Lange, Little & Co., 

PKINTKES, ELECTROTYPERS AND STEREOTYPEE8. 

108 TO 114 WoosTER Street, N. Y. 



TO 



WHITELAW REID, 

WHO, SUCCEEDING HORACE GREELEY AS EDITOR OF THE 

*'NEW YORK TRIBUNE," SUCCEEDS 

HIM ALSO AS 

THE AUTHOR'S FRIEND. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I.— EGYPT. 

Chap. Page 

I. Alexandria After Twenty-two Years.... 9 

II. From Alexandria to Cairo by Rail 18 

III. A New Picture of Cairo 28 

IV. Sights In and Around Cairo 37 

V. A Trip to the Pyramids 44 

VI. Interview with the Khedive 53 

VII. Railways in Egypt 63 

VIII. A Trip to the Fyoom . 69 

IX. The Egyptian Antiquities at Boolak 104 

X. Fragments of Early Egyptian Literature. 120 

XI. Egypt Under the Khedive's Rule 133 

XII. Final Notes from Ecjypt 143 



6 CONTENTS. 

PART II.— ICELAND. 

Chap. Page 

I. On the Way to Iceland 153 

II. A Sketch of Iceland's History 160 

III. A Day at the Orkneys 170 

IV. The Shetland Islands 177 

V. Holiday at the Faroe Islands 182 

VI. On the Northern Ocean 189 

VII. Rejkiavik and the King's Arrival 197 

VIII. Further Impressions of Iceland 206 

IX. The Millennial Celebration at Rejkiavik 213 

X. The Ride to Thingvalla 225 

XI. From Thingvalla to the Geysers 233 

XII. Waiting for the Great Geyser to Spout. 242 

XIII. The National Fesiival at Thingvalla... 254 

XIV. A New Political Era for Iceland 266 

XV. The Return to Rejkiavik and Voyage to 

Scotland 274 



PART I. 



EGYPT. 



Egypt. 

CHAPTER I. 

A.LEXANDRIA AFTER TWENTY-TWO YEARS. 

Alexandria, Egypt, March 14, 1874. 
"XT THEN we passed Crete, two days ago, the north 
^^ wind — the very same ^^Euroclydon" which 
once so interfered with the voyage of St. Paul — grew 
finally tired of blowing, and a light breeze, with the 
promise of summer on its wings, stole over the waters 
from the unseen Libyan shore. The gales which have 
convulsed the Mediterranean this winter left only a 
long, uneasy swell behind them, and we were even 
glad to escape the sight of land, coupled as it was in 
Sicily and Calabria and Crete with that of abundant 
snow. Winter is never so wearisome as when one is 
trying to escape it. 

I saw Egypt for the last time in 1852, when steam- 
ers were just beginning to ply upon the Nile, and a 
line of very rude omnibuses crossed the desert from 
Cairo to Suez about once a month. There had been 
a survey for a railroad, I believe, but the first spadeful 
of earth had not yet been turned, and the Suez Canal 



10 EGYPT. 

was among the things not only unprojected, but 
almost unmentioned. Abbas Pasha was making awk- 
ward attempts to introduce the European mxilitary sys- 
tem, upon the success of which further innovations 
seemed to be waiting; Soudan was hardly subjected 
to the Egyptian rule, and Gondokoro, now the start- 
ing-point of exploration on the White Nile, was then 
its farthest limit. My own journey to Central Africa 
was something so unusual that it was considered haz- 
ardous, for scarcely a dozen travellers had penetrated 
into Nubia beyond the Second Cataract. 

All these conditions have been wonderfully changed, 
and now, in returning for the second time to a country 
which, once seen, forever after attracts, my chief 
interest will be to ascertain what corresponding change 
has taken place in the condition, the habits, and the 
ideas of the people. It is still an undecided point how 
far the requirements of modern civilization will — or can 
— be accepted by any portion of the Oriental race, 
since there are so few which do not interfere with 
either religious traditions or social usages of nearly 
equal sanctity. There is no permanence in an exotic 
civilization, possessed only by the governing class, 
as has been the case heretofore ; but now that 
ship-canal, railway, telegraph, and printing-press 
are owned by Egypt, the native race must per- 
force change or go under. This much by way of in- 
dicating the point of view which I have proposed to 
myself. 

We took passage at Naples on the Rubattino (Italian) 
line of steamers, in consequence of reasonable recom- 



ALEXANDRIA. ii 

mendation. The little, slow-going Sicilia, however, 
with her berths in which you could not lie at full 
length, her cabin in which you could not stand up- 
right, her delicate sympathy with the least restlessness 
of the waves, and her refusal to make more than nine 
miles an hour under the most favorable circumstances, 
was rather a sore disappointment to the seven Ameri- 
can and four English passengers. But the fifth morn- 
ing came at last, balmy and cloudless, and before 
noon the pharos of Alexandria hovered like a faint 
streak over the far-sparkling water. The white 
houses on the point, the Cape of Figs, the glare of 
the sandy Libyan coast, the windmills and clumps 
of stumpy, wind-beaten palm-trees, rose and blended 
into a low landscape, just as I had seen them before. 
Then came a new mole, creating a grand artificial 
harbor, with an inner port, crowded with vessels. The 
water was alive with boats ; dolphins leaped through 
the dancing ripples, and flocks of snowy gulls circled 
in the sun or dropped upon the waves. New York 
Bay, on a fair June morning, is not more bright, 
breezy, and joyous. 

My former smattering of Arabic seemed to come 
back suddenly with the necessity for using it, and the 
vessel was barely anchored before I had bargained 
with a boatman to take us ashore. In fact, we got 
away so rapidly that a courteous Egyptian of^cer was 
compelled to accompany us, in order that there might 
be somebody to receive us at the almost deserted land- 
ing place. Passports are still called for, which seems 
a most unnecessary regulation, since no fee is de- 



12 EGYPT. 

manded ; a douceu?' of two francs to the officer of 
customs saves the necessity of opening trunks, and 
the traveller is then admitted into the whirlpool of 
coachmen, donkey-drivers, and porters, waiting in the 
street outside. But the cries and gesticulations mean 
nothing serious, and the stranger who has been fright- 
ened by the representations of certain guide-books may 
possess his soul in peace if he only keeps a serene 
countenance. Show signs of timidity or bewilderment, 
and the uproar may rise to a fearful pitch ; announce 
your will briefly, and with an air of calm authority, 
in either English, French, or Italian, and you will be 
understood and readily obeyed. 

In twenty minutes from the time we left the steam- 
er's deck we were seated in a carriage, and threading 
the narrow streets of the old town, on our way to the 
Hotel d'Europe. I only needed to say, in Arabic, '' I 
have been in Alexandria before," to change the howls 
of the porters into grins and stop their clamor for 
more pay. The noises which followed were simply 
picturesque — merchants crying their wares, warnings 
of coachmen and donkey-boys, or greetings and gos- 
sip in the open booths. Here was old Alexandria 
still; nor was there much sign of change when we 
emerged into the dusty and shabby ** Grand Square." 
A bronze equestrian statue of Mohammed Ali, in the 
centre thereof, now offends the faith of Islam, while 
it encourages but very slightly one's own faith in art. 
The hotel has added an immense sign, '^Patronized 
by H. R. H. the Prince of Wales," with the three 
feathers, but omitting the '^ Ich dien,'' which I thought 



ALEXANDRIA. 13 

a bad omen, until reassured by finding service and 
table really good. 

A far larger stream of human life and a more mot- 
ley mixture of nationalities poured through the square ; 
otherwise I noticed but one striking change. This is 
the astonishing spread of the English language within 
the last twenty years, resulting both from the numbers 
of English and American travellers who visit the East, 
and the use of the language by travellers of other na- 
tionalities. French, which until within the last few 
years was indispensable, has been slowly fading into 
the background, and is already less available than 
English for Italy and all the Orient. I was not a little 
surprised, in Rome, at being accosted by a native 
boot-black with: '^ Shine up your boots ?'^ In 
Naples, every peddler of canes, coral, photographs, 
and shell-fish knows at least enough to make a good 
bargain ; but this is nothing to what one meets in Egypt. 
The bright-witted boys learn the language with amaz- 
ing rapidity, and are so apt at guessing what they do 
not literally understand that the traveller no longer 
requires an interpreter. At the base of Pompey's 
Pillar to-day a ragged and dirty little girl came out 
of a Fellah hut and followed us crying, ** Give me a 
ha'penny ! " All the coachmen and most of the shop- 
keepers are familiar with the words necessary for 
their business, and prefer to use them, even after they 
see that you are acquainted with Italian or Arabic. 
The simple, natural structure of the English language 
undoubtedly contributes also to its extension. It is 
already the leading language of the world, spoken by 



14 EGYPT, 

ninety millions of people (double the number of the 
French-speaking races), and so extending its con- 
quests year by year that its practical value is far in 
advance of that of any other tongue. 

In the older streets, and especially in the native 
bazars, all is gay, diversified, Oriental. The faces, 
costumes, and dialects of Syria, Tripoli, and Tunis 
are mixed with those of Egypt, and even groups of 
wondering Desert Arabs are a daily sight. I saw 
several this morning, evidently very much puzzled by 
a collection of large children's dolls in a shop window ; 
their faces were an interesting study. But with what 
a simple dignity they wore their ragged burnouses ! 
What fine, statuesque grace in every deliberate move- 
ment or gesture ! These pictures, which meet you at 
every turn, give to the newer portion of Alexandria, 
which is architecturally like Leghorn or Marseilles, a 
semi Oriental character. Of its 225,000 inhabitants, 
at least 100,000 are of European blood. It has more 
than doubled in twenty years, and the rubbish of un- 
finished or demolished buildings meets your eye 
wherever you go. The banking capital of the city is 
estimated at $125,000,000 — not much less than that of 
New-York, where, however, the amount of business 
is not always an evidence of the basis upon which it 
is carried on. Where everybody rode on donkeys, in 
1852, there are now superb equipages, and the rich 
merchants are building up a suburb of sumptuous 
villas and gardens at Ramleh, four or five miles to the 
eastward of the city. 

We drove to the Pasha's garden under fair sunshine, 



ALEXANDRIA, 15 

through mild and yet bracing air ; but the signs of 
a severe Winter were visible in the nipped and dilap- 
idated banana trees, the dull hues of the palms, and 
the absence of any but the very first indications of 
Spring. The sycamore, fig, and mulberry trees are 
still as naked and gray as in Northern Italy ; only 
the almond and apricot are in blossom. The garden 
seemed to be under a mysterious ban ; Summer, 
Spring, and Winter were mixed in the trees and 
plants, as if Nature had lost her calendar and were 
feebly endeavoring to iind out the season. A large 
military band, in scarlet uniform, played various 
clashing and jingling pieces to about a hundred audi- 
tors, and half a dozen gardeners, in blue cotton caf- 
tans, lounged about to see that the few geraniums, 
and gilliflowers were not plucked. 

The return along the bank of the Mahmoudieh 
Canal was altogether more satisfactory. The winding 
water-course has all the character of a natural river ; 
native villages have sprung up on the further bank; 
native craft, towed by men, move slowly back and 
forth ; camels and donkeys bring loads of lush green 
grass from the fields beyond ; crowds of women wash 
clothes or vegetables in the water, and now and then 
you see a devout Moslem, turned towards Mecca, 
praying his afternoon prayer. I remembered an 
Egyptian coffee-house, shaded with palms, but could 
not find it again. In its place there was a small Greek 
establishment, where an inferior Mocha was brought 
to us in Frank cups, and even the narghileh had lost 
its former fashion. Indeed, our going to such a place 



i6 EGYPT, 

at all seemed to surprise the Arab coachman, and to 
be hardly welcome to the keeper of the cafe. But 
what is to become of the Orient if its characteristic fea- 
tures thus disappear? With the cafe, the story-teller 
will go ; next, the pipe and the little cup of frothy, 
aromatic coffee ; and finally, the Egyptian will sit in- 
doors, at a marble table, with a cigar in his mouth and 
a bottle of soda-water (?) before him. 

Moslem and Frank seem to live very harmoniously 
here, side by side. The former have either conquered 
their religious prejudices or learned to suppress the 
evidence of them. Even in passing through the bazar 
of the Tunisians, who have always been narrowly fan- 
atical in this respect, a few words in their language 
brought courteous and friendly answers. Whatever 
Frank habits the people may have adopted, they still 
keep their grace and cheerfulness, their clamor for 
much and their satisfaction with little. I am inclined 
to think that a change of costume (which means far 
more here than in most other countries) must precede 
— or at least be the sign of-— any important change in 
their ideas. 

If the Suez Canal has injured the commerce of Alex- 
andria, as was predicted, the loss has certainly been 
made up in other ways, for few cities of its size show 
greater evidence of present growth and prosperity. 
Mr. Babbitt, the American Vice Consul-General, 
informs me that the trade with the United States has 
greatly increased within the past year. It is not a 
place where the tourist tarries long — for the column 
which the Arab coachmen call ^^Bombey's Billar " 



ALEXANDRIA. 17 

may be seen in an hour— but it is really an interesting 
frontispiece to the new civilization of Egypt. The ho- 
tels have all the European comforts except that of 
bells, but if H. R. H. was willing to stand at his 
chamber door and clap his hands three times for a 
waiter to come, why should we object? Besides, you 
may remember that they did just so in the Arabian 
Nights. 

So m.any American travellers imagine March to be 
too late a month for Egypt, that I must inform them 
we are just comfortable — and no more — without tires. 
The temperature is that of a day in early June, say 70° 
in the shade. 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO BY RAIL. 

Cairo, March i6. 

THE old route from Alexandria to Cairo, by steam 
or rail, along the Mahmoudieh Canal to Atfeh, 
and up the Rosetta arm of the Nile, is a thing of the 
past. Instead of twelve hours on the steamer, or 
three to six days on a dahabiyeh, the express trains 
now make the intervening hundred and thirty miles 
in exactly four hours and a half, and carry the traveller 
across the rich inland levels of the Delfti, which he 
never saw in former years. All authorities, guide- 
books, included, warn you solemnly against taking the 
ordinary trains, on the ground that ihey never obey 
the time-table and may be delayed for hours on the 
way. For us, however, the express was too punctual, 
because too fast. I did not consider an additional 
hour and a half any too much for an entirely new 
route, and was not particularly satisfied when the pre- 
dictions proved false and the train kept its exact 
time. 

At the Alexandria station, a large dusty building 
beyond the canal, there was certainly, at the start, an 
atmosphere of great repose and indifference. The 
ticket-seller at the open window counted gold pieces 



FROM ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO BY RAIL, ig 

for about five minutes before attending to my demand, 
and the officials in the baggage-room discussed a va- 
riety of topics while weighing and registering our two 
small trunks. The first-class fare is a little less than six 
dollars, which, with one franc for baggage, is not an ex- 
cessive charge. A dozen persons were gathered in the 
shabby waiting-room, while the native passengers, third 
and fourth-class, came forth as a large multitude from 
their separate den. The first and second-class cars 
were made after the English model, the former with 
comfortable leather seats, but without curtains to the 
windows. The conductor and his subalterns spoke Eng- 
lish, with a smattering of French and Italian. Every 
one connected with the train seemed to be lounging 
about the platform, moving slowly, speaking gently, 
and apparently coveting an opportunity for a good 
nap. There was no noise ; the locomotive neither 
whistled nor snorted ; only a bell, with a very lazy 
clapper, struck once or twice somewhere, and, at the 
appointed minute, the train slid almost noiselessly out 
of the station. From first to last, indeed, there was 
less jarring and sound than upon any other railway I 
have ever travelled. The track, almost perfectly level 
and with few curves, rests on a low embankment of 
the elastic alluvial soil, into which the rails are kept 
from sinking by using broad iron saucers in place of 
sleepers. 

For the first twenty- five miles, between Lake Mare- 
otis on the right and the canal on the left, there 
is little to be seen. Water and reeds, sandy shores in 
the distance, wild ducks and pelicans, and congrega- 



20 EGYPT. 

tionsof storks in the nearer marshes, appear on the one 
hand : on the other are scant fields of wheat and bar- 
ley, pastures where horses and buffaloes graze, clumps 
of tamarisk or palm, and, bounding all, like a very 
dirty frame to a simple but sunny picture, the banks 
of the canal, above which you sometimes see the 
curved and pointed top of a lateen sail. Every half- 
mile or thereabouts, wherever there is a little mound 
rising a few feet above the inundatable soil, you see 
a Fellah village, resembling a nest of mud-wasps 
magnified, with lean chickens and children scratching 
about in the sun, and a woman or two carrying water 
from the neighboring pool. 

The first two stations were little more than watering- 
places for the engines; but even there we found 
water-carriers with their porous earthen jars, and ven- 
dors of oranges and sugar-cane clamoring for custom. 
The names of the places were not called out ; but an 
assistant conductor, who scented backsheesh in the 
distance, and spoke a little English, privately an- 
nounced them to us. A native attendant with a large 
dinner-bell on his shoulder, was always on hand, 
grave and responsible, to give the signal for depart- 
ure. Yet, although we halted every twelve miles, 
making a leisurely and friendly call in each instance, 
our running speed was between twenty- five and thirty 
miles an hour. 

Once having rounded the eastern end of Lake Mc".- 
reotis, the road turns to the southward, and enters the 
broad, triangular region of Lower Egypt. The near 
marshes and the distant ridges of sand are no longer 



ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO BY RAIL. 21 

seen; fields of cotton, beans, wheat, barley, and clo- 
ver stretch away to the horizon, intersected by canals 
of irrigation, whose courses may be traced by their 
borders of tamarisk — the tree sacred to Osiris. The 
men and children seem to be all out of doors, plowing 
with buffalo teams, cutting clover, watching the graz- 
ing animals, or squatting on their heels in the sun and 
doing nothing. A fresh, balmy smell of vegetation 
enters the open windows as we speed along. The 
temperature makes the breeze welcome, yet our wool- 
len garments are none too warm. It is like a warm 
spring without its languor, or a summer tempered by 
high mountain air. 

About forty miles from Alexandria we approach the 
large town of Damanhoor, the capital of nearly all 
the agricultural region west of the Nile, with which it 
is connected by a navigable canal. Some hundreds 
of previous mud towns must have crumbled into ruin 
and been again built upon, to form the mound upon 
which the present place is built. Its material, also, is 
chiefly mud ; but the lines of the houses, '* battering 
in " (to use the builder's term) like the pyl^ of old 
temples, give them a certain stateliness. It was either 
market-day, or a fair was being held : thousands of 
men, women, children, camels, oxen, and asses filled 
the open space on the western slope of the moupd, 
and crowds of the curiously-inclined thronged about 
the station. The Egyptian passengers bought heads 
of lettuce, which they ate with great relish, curds, and 
cakes of coarse, dark bread. The water-jars were 
also in demand for the washing of hands ; so that the 



22 EGYPT. 

railway, thus far, seemed to have adapted itself to na- 
tive habits rather than to have modified them. The 
people who came to look at the train were simply 
idlers, to whom neither locomotives nor Franks were 
any longer an astonishment : the innovation was ac- 
cepted as a part of the Inevitable. As a Progressist, 
I ought to have been disappointed ; but I am afraid 
there was a feeling of satisfaction at the bottom of my 
unregenerate nature, on finding that the Oriental re- 
pose had not yet been seriously shaken. 

Our glimpse of the fair at Damanhoor was like a 
tableau upon which the curtain falls before one has 
fairly seen it. The main country road, however, ran 
side by side with the railway for ten or fifteen miles 
further, and gave us the view of an almost unbroken 
procession of people on their way to market. Nothing 
could have been more varied and picturesque. A Copt 
in his black mantle, bulged out by the wind, as he sat 
on his donkey ; a camel laden with sacks of grain, on 
the top of which was perched a coop full of chickens ; 
a whole Fellah family, partly on foot, the men riding, 
the women with bundles balanced on their heads ; a 
naked boy, washing himself in a pool left in the dry- 
ing canal ; a peddler resting cross-legged in the sun, 
and as grave as the Pope giving his benediction to the 
world; an Egyptian officer, prancing along on horse- 
back, with his pipe-bearer, in white and scarlet, run- 
ning in advance — these were the chief figures in a 
procession which was strongly relieved in color, 
against the deep, juicy green of the wheat-fields or the 
pale, pearly blue of the air. But for these figures, 



ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO B V RAIL. 23 

the Delta would have resembled an Illinois prairie as 
much as anything. 

At noon we reached the Nile, crossing it by a mag- 
nificent iron bridge to the town of Kafr ez-Zyat, where 
the train stops twenty minutes. There is said to be a 
restaurant here, but it is hardly in the station, and I 
suspect few passengers patronize it, or a guide would 
have been on hand. Lettuce, stalks of sugar-cane and 
fig paste were abundantly offered, also oranges grimy 
with much handling. "We were the only Frank trav- 
ellers, and undoubtedly received less attention than if 
we had come by the express. The sub-conductor was 
the only person who seemed at all interested in our 
fortunes, and his purpose therein was evident from the 
start. But we had prudently brought a lunch with us, 
and so enjoyed the stop at Kafr ez-Zyat, which might 
otherwise have been a disappointment. 

For eleven miles further, to Tantah, the country is 
a superb agricultural picture. Every foot of it yields 
a rich return, and the soil does not seem to require 
more than a week's rest between crops. Wheat is now 
a foot high, barley is coming into head, horse-beans 
are in blossom, and the almond-trees are fair with 
young leaves. Looking toward the sun, the wide level 
gleamed like a perfect emerald. The dark brown 
loam, as it was turned by the plow, crumbled with a 
mellowness which would have made an American 
farmer's mouth water. With such a soil, and under 
such a sky, the labor in the fields seemed to be half 
play. But -the Egyptian Fellah, with all his capacity 
for indolence, is by no means a lazy man. On the con- 



24 EGYPT. 

trary, he is a steady and cheerful worker, whenevei 
compelled by necessity, or directed by an authority 
which he respects. Few people, in proportion to their 
means and the development of their resources, are at 
present so heavily taxed, and none bear their burdens 
with equal patience. 

Tantah is a large and lively town, and possesses one 
of the forty or fifty palaces of the Khedive. Other 
railways branch from it down the Delta; the station 
is spacious and unusually clean, and for the first time 
since leaving Alexandria there was a large accession 
of passengers. Many of the recently built houses are 
Italian in character, handsomely stuccoed and painted, 
and embowered in pleasant gardens. This was all I 
could observe of a place which I hope to revisit and 
describe more particularly before leaving Egypt. 

The further stretch of twenty miles before reaching 
the Damietta arm of the Nile only repeated what we 
had already seen. Once the fertile alluvial plain was 
interrupted by a sand-island — a low ridge, four or five 
miles in length — which appeared to have been blown 
from the Eastern Desert, in the lapse of many centuries, 
to its present position. Such islands are prol)ably er- 
ratic in their character, like those in Northern Ger- 
many, and might be made stationary by the same 
means — that is. covering them with certain tenacious 
grasses and shrubs. Their elevation above the plain 
is so slight that they might even be irrigated, and thus 
lose their barrenness. I saw, in fact, the beginning 
of the latter process at several points along the road. 

But for the palm-trees and the mud villages, this 



ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO BY RAIL. 25 

part of the Delta might be compared to the richest 
lowlands of P^ngland, in early June. The deep colors 
of the vegetation and the soft, changing hues of the 
sky prevented it from becoming monotonous to the 
eye. When we had crossed the second Nile and passed 
the flourishing town of Benha, where the railway sends 
off a branch to Ismailia and Suez, the country became 
even more densely populated. This region is the 
Goshen of the Israelites, and one can hardly wonder 
that many of them sighed for its flesh-pots while fol- 
lowing Moses through the bleak valleys of Sinai. At 
this point you see two far blue peaks, rising above the 
palms and tamarisks on the south-western horizon, 
and know them to be the Pyramids by the precision 
of their outlines. 

It is but twenty miles further to Cairo, and the land- 
scape becomes gradually more and more crowded with 
life. On both sides, in the distance, the bare yellow 
hills of the Desert arise to enhance, by contrast, the 
luxuriance of the plain : the Fellah villages disappear, 
and well-built country-houses, with gardens of orange 
and banana trees, take their place. A constant string 
of horses, camels, and donkeys fills the main road; 
flocks of sheep, with heavy brown fleeces, graze along 
the bank, and the white ibises stand upright and look 
at the train without fear as it passes. Here a little 
portable steam engine is at work, pumping water for 
irrigation; there a man is loosening large cubes of 
rich soil from the cracked bottom of a dry canal, and 
heaping them up for the enrichment of his gardens. 
Camels carry manure to the fields in wide baskets, and 



26 EGYPT. 

return laden with bales of fresh lucern. As the Cita- 
del of Cairo, with the reed-like minarets of Moham- 
med All's mosque comes in sight, we also see the 
smoky chimneys of manufactories, great barracks and 
buildings on either side, — in short, a vast, crowded, 
active suburb, where there were only open fields in 
my memory. 

At the station of Kalioob, another railway branches 
off to the eastward, following the course of the new 
fresh-water canal, which carries the Nile to Port Said 
and Suez. It unites with the road from Benha at the 
town of Zagazig, and thus forms the communication 
by rail between Cairo and the Red Sea. The former 
shorter railway, directly across the Desert, has been 
abandoned. 

On time, but almost too soon, our train entered the 
terminal station at Shoobra. An omnibus from the 
Hotel die Nil was in waiting, and its conductor car- 
ried us quietly through a raging sea of Arab porters. 
The native passengers, less fortunate, were seized and 
tossed hither and thither ; a hundred throats screamed, 
entreated or expostulated, and two hundred hands 
were hurled forward in menace or toward Heaven in 
frantic appeal. How long the confusion lasted, I can- 
not guess. It grew fainter as we drove away, without 
appearing to grow less. 

The broad, crowded streets through which we passed ; 
the European architecture, signs in English, French 
and Italian ; the open carriages and unveiled ladies — 
were these Cairo ? I could scarcely believe it. Vainly 
I peered to right and left, in the hope of discovering 



ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO BY RAIL, i"i 

some old landmark. There was a large, open, dusty 
square: could it be the shndy Ezbekeeyeh, the haunt 
of native gossips and story-tellers ? At last came the 
old street of the Mooskee, but crowded and muddy as 
I had never seen it. Now the omnibus stops : we 
thread a narrow, winding lane between high Oriental 
houses, and suddenly emerge into a sunny garden of 
palms and acacias, surrounded by the quadrangle of 
the hotel. Here, in the balmy evening, as the muez- 
zin calls the asser'^x^.y^x from a near minaret, no other 
sound or cry penetrating from the motley streets, I feel 
that I have reached Cairo. 



CHAPTER III. 

A NEW PICTURE OF CAIRO. 

Cairo, March 20. 

IT is not quite easy to make the changes which 
Cairo has undergone during the last twenty years 
clear to any one who was not acquainted with the 
extent and appearance of the city at that time. Its 
germ, or original starting point, was the citadel, which 
crowns the extremity of a low spur of the Mokattam 
Hills, about three miles from the Nile, and where the 
mosque built by Saladin and the well he excavated in 
the limestone rock are still in existence. The Sara- 
cenic city of the Middle Ages grew up around the 
western and southern base of this fortress, admitting 
Coptic, Jewish, and Frank quarters as it spread, and 
as commercial intercourse with Europe brought prac- 
tical tolerance to its rulers and people. The western 
suburb thus always represented the latest phase of 
grow^th, and the stranger reached successively older 
belts of history as he penetrated eastward tow^ard the 
Citadel. But even the part added by Mohammed AH, 
including the square of the Ezbekeeyeh, was more Ori- 
ental than European in character. The native Cai- 
renes adopted it as a ground for rest and gossip, and 
always crowded its open-air cafes. 



CAIRO. 29 

In 1852, the houses on the western side of the Ez- 
Dekeeyeh were the end of Cairo in that direction. 
Beyond them you entered the broad road, two miles 
long, shaded with acacia and plane trees, which led to 
Boulak, then a shabby little town, and chiefly impor- 
tant as the point of embarkation on the Nile. I knew, 
of course, that the open space between Cairo and 
Boulak must have been greatly encroached upon by 
the growth of the capital ; but I was not prepared for 
the astonishing changes in the physiognomy of the 
latter which I find, and which seem to be but the pre- 
lude to greater transformations. My first day or two 
here were really quite bewildering. I recognized here 
and there an old landmark, but it was torn away from 
its former adjuncts or surroundings. What has-been 
added is of a character so different that it suggests 
another land, another faith, other habits of life. How 
it will harmonize with what already existed — whether, 
indeed, it will veritably harmonize for a long while to 
come — are questions which one need not try to answer. 
It was quite evident that the present aspect of Egypt is 
due to the personal will of the Khedive rather than to 
the material development of the country, and that the 
population, now patiently submitting thereto, would 
be equally ready to obey a reactionary successor. 

If the plan of destroying the purely Oriental charac- 
ter of Cairo, and turning it into a mimic European 
capital, were fully carried out, one might, possibly, 
be more easily reconciled to the change ; but the city 
is just now in that hideous period of transition when 
the Old is falling into ruin and the New has not filled 



30 EGYPT. 

its place. Outside of the close, compact, ancient 
quarters there is a broad border of unsightly rubbish ; 
where it is wholly cleared away, blocks of new, rec- 
tangular, utterly unpicturesque buildings have reached 
the first or second story — and in both cases the result 
is dust, stones, scaffolding, impediments. At least 
four square miles of the former fields and gardens be- 
tween Cairo and the Nile are now laid out in broad 
streets, raised high and dry above inundation mark, 
rudely macadamized, and lighted with gas lamps. 
Boulak and Roda are thus practically joined to the 
city; squares and fountains, still lacking water and 
trees, are placed at intervals, and a sort of aristocratic, 
s^vi\\-Y.\xxo^td.xv faubourgs suggesting France and Italy 
at the same time, is thus in rapid process of creation. 
One hardly knows whether to weep or rejoice. The 
houses, certainly, are more comfortable homes than 
Cairo ever before knew; the gardens around them are 
a new and delightful feature ; the broad, fiery streets 
will eventually become avenues of shade, and free 
currents of air from every quarter will make the city 
a healthy residence ; but — it will not be the Cairo of 
the Caliphs and the Mamelukes. 

The evening of my arrival I made inquiries for my 
faithful dragoman, Achmet es-Saidi, of whose death I 
had heard, some years ago, but whom I stubbornly re- 
fused to believe dead. An instinct stronger than rea- 
son told me I should see him again, and when he 
actually came and stood before me — a little grayer after 
twenty-two years, but as good a Moslem, as honest a 
man, and as faithful a friend as ever — I was surprised 



CAIRO. 31 

at the fulfillment of my own prediction. He has pros- 
pered, in the meantime : he is the owner of several 
houses, and no longer needs to accompany the Frank 
traveller on his eccentric pilgrimages, but in all else 
he is unchanged. I come back to verify my old ex- 
perience of hum.an nature : in Christian or Moslem, 
Jew or Buddhist, the true man is true, and the false 
is false : not the creed as an abstraction, but its prac- 
tical exemplification in life, is the gauge of religion. 
Achmet, and various Mohammedan priests whom I 
have known, promise me free entrance into their 
Heaven ; I, in turn, hope to welcome them in mine. 

But I am straying from the theme. Through my 
old friend, I have been trying to learn how the native 
Cairenes look upon the innovations of the Khedive, 
the transformations going on in their beloved city. 
It is not easy to get to the bottom of the truth, the 
Oriental is so prone to accept without reflecting. . The 
old orthodox Moslem element, I suspect, is discon- 
tented and perhaps scandalized ; the mass of the peo- 
ple, fond of show, of the display of wealth and the 
indirect largesse which accompanies it, are diverted 
for the present, and therefore satisfied. The Future 
is an unknown factor in the calculation of the latter 
class. They will cheerfully loaf all day in the sun if 
but a single farthing is left them for supper. It really 
seems as if the donkey-boys and others who prey upon 
travellers conceive their business as a lottery, for they 
will refuse the offers in ihe morning, which, after 
lost hours of idleness, they accept in the afternoon. 

Our hotel, in the old Frank quarter, a little way off 



32 EGYPT. 

the Mooskee, lies within the undisturbed region. If I 
turn to the right on issuing from it, I presently come 
into the ancient bazars, sweet with smothered scents 
of aloes and sandal-wood, shaded, stately with grave 
merchants, and offering pictures w^hich recall the 
Arabian Nights at every turn. There are still carved 
Saracenic portals, cool, mysterious courts, arcades 
where the grave tailors or jewelers ply their trade, 
sunny glimpses of mosques and fountains, and the 
usual procession of veiled women, eunuchs, ebony 
slaves from Dar-Fur, and the Faithful of the East and 
West. Turn to the left, however, and in a few min- 
utes you reach a dusty square where Ibrahim Pasha — 
the Lion of Egypt — checks his horse in bronze and 
stretches his bronze arm toward the modern quarters 
of the city. *'0, Egyptian!" I said to a native; 
** what do the people think of this ? " " O, stranger ! " 
he answered, *^they ought to think it a great sin." 
But the multitude, I suspect, doesn't think at all, or 
there would be fewer photographs of the natives dis- 
played in the shop-windows. The aim of Mohammed 
in prohibiting the representation of a human being, 
was simply to prevent a lapse into idolatry; hence a 
statue, left to itself, without religious honors, soon 
ceases to alarm the people's faith. 

The Ezbekeeyeh, I insist, has been ruined. In 
place of the old haunt of shade and Latakia smoke, 
with its quadrangular canal for the inundation, you 
have now a much larger park, which resembles a beg- 
garly section of the Bois de Boulogne. There are in 
it a curving pond, a bridge, several kiosks, plots of 



CAIRO. 33 

unhappy turf which pine and languish from the very 
efforts to make them grow, and clumps of trees and 
shrubbery which seem intended to suggest a cooler 
climate and miserably fail. I noticed no palms ; they 
are probably too Egyptian. It must be a great ex- 
pense to keep up this exotic park, and, if successful, 
it will be just what the uncorrupted traveller does not 
wish to see. The palace built for the Prince of Wales, 
the Opera House, and the New Hotel (owned by the 
Khedive) front on this square, and, on such a miser- 
ably cold, rainy day as we had on Wednesday, one 
might have fancied oneself in Haussman's Paris. To- 
day, when the sun of Egypt returns to warm us, when 
thousands of palms rock in the gentle breeze, and a 
warmer color touches the hills of the Desert, the 
whole scene is painfully incongruous — almost absurd. 
Some of the newer blocks have spacious arcades, 
like Turin or Bologna, — an arrangement admirably 
adapted to the climate, and certainly better than the 
covered bazars of the old city. I do not know how far 
this feature is to be applied, for there are vast spaces 
where you see only demolition and not reconstruction. 
The new streets beyond the great square are lined 
with private dwellings and gardens, and will be well 
shaded in the course of time. An adequate supply of 
water is the first necessity. This can easily be ob- 
tained by an aqueduct tapping the Nile twenty or 
thirty miles above Cairo. At present, most ot the in- 
habitants must buy their supply, and I saw the poor 
people, yesterday, filling their jars from the dirty pud- 
dles in the street. Four or five Government fountains 



34 EGYPT. 

send up a spray which is dehghtful to behold, but 
that is a luxury, and not to be used by the public. 

Leaving out of sight the Romantic — that which ap- 
peals to an established sentiment, to old associations, 
or to a passion for the picturesque in form and color — 
what is the effect of a growth which is not even a graft 
on the old stock, but a foreign plant, artificially (as it 
seems) nourished, and chiefly by a single personal 
will? I am hardly able to answer the question, as yet. 
To do so justly, requires a better knowledge of the ideas 
and feelings of the native Cairenes than I have yet ac- 
quired. They seem unchanged: if there is more 
natural patience with the new element w?iich partly 
controls them, more fraternal tolerance, release from 
old traditions and superstitions, it is hardly manifested 
in a positive form. I found them formerly, as now, 
friendly, social, transparent in their cunning, easily 
checked and controlled, harsh masters and patient 
servants. The Frank, of course, is secure against 
active discourtesy, and the prejudice from which it 
might spring is probably slowly wearing away. 

It is difficult to disentangle the imaginary and the 
real, in one's memory. Perhaps if the old Cairo 
which I knew were now suddenly restored, I should 
like it less than w^hat I find. A railway from Alexan- 
dria ; a bridge over the Nile ; a carriage road to the 
Pyramids and Heliopolis ; a telegraph, a daily paper, 
an opera, Christian churches, — these are changes not 
to be rejected or undervalued. No doubt, also, when 
the work of pulling down and rebuilding — ^which is 
always hideous — shall have been completed, the result 



CAIRO. 35 

will be far more satisfactory than the present stage of 
transition. I am amazed at the growth of Cairo, yet 
cannot fully enjoy its character. 

As if to make the change more emphatic, the win- 
try weather we tried to escape by leaving Italy has 
followed us even here. After a sharp north wind on 
Tuesday, Wednesday came with cloud and a chilly 
rain (thermometer at 45^) which lasted all day, and 
obliged us, since fire-places are unknown, to sit in 
cloaks, with doors and windows closed. The Mooskee 
was knee-deep in mud this morning, and the streets 
of Boulak were a succession of pools. March is usual- 
ly the most delightful month of the year, in Egypt ; 
but now, when Constantinople is snowed up, and 
people freeze to death on Chios, we must needs shiver 
on the banks of the Nile. How far the present un- 
usual amount of rain here is attributable to the open- 
ing of the Suez Canal, the increased area of agricul- 
ture, and the planting of trees in the Delta, is a ques- 
tion which it would be premature to discuss. One can 
hardly draw conclusions on a less basis than the aver- 
age of ten years. 

The expense of living, in Alexandria and Cairo, has 
increased about fifty per cent, since 1852 ; but the ex- 
pense of a voyage up the Nile is from two to three times 
as much as then. A large dahabeeyeh, then costing two 
hundred and fifty dollars per month, now commands 
seven hundred and fifty dollars— which, considering 
that the value of the boat is about three thousand five 
hundred dollars, is enormously exorbitant. Luxurious 
travellers are chiefly to blame for this state of things, 



36 EGYPT. 

and I imagine that the Stars and Stripes cover quite 
as much reckless ostentation as any other flag. The 
steamers take parties of twenty or thirty at forty-six 
pounds apiece, to the First Cataract and back in three 
weeks. These parties generally return in a state of 
violent contention, even (in one case, this Winter) 
with pending duels, which is rather a dismal view of 
human nature to one who has seen Abydos and Kar- 
nak. 

I have given, thus far, only my first rapid impressions, 
reserving the right to change them as further expe- 
rience may require. I do not and cannot believe that 
development is loss — certainly not where it strikes 
deep roots into the nature of a race and feeds it with 
new sustenance. But the Orientals draw comfort and 
strength from other sources than we do, and one must 
learn what thoughts are hidden under their grave 
faces before deciding finally how they are affected by 
the grand movements of our age. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SIGHTS IN AND AROUND CAIRO. 

Cairo, March 23, 1874. 
T MUST begin with the weather — a theme unknown 
•*- to Egyptian conversation, unless it happens to be 
very extraordinary, as now. You cannot say, *' What 
a fine day ! '' in a country where all normal days are 
fine ; nor exchange predictions when to-morrow, and 
next week, and next month, are known in advance by 
everybody. Egypt has heretofore been a certain 
refuge to all who are weary of our endless meteoro- 
logical small-talk ; but I begin to donbt whether it 
will continue to remain so. The Mexicans have al- 
ways said that the Anglo-Saxon race changes the cli- 
mate wherever it settles. So, here, it almost seems 
as if the increase of the Frank element and the intro- 
duction of Frank civilization have given lawlessness 
and change to an atmosphere which once was calm 
as the Sphinx and steady as the Pyramids. 

For two days past the thermometer has fallen to 44° 
in the mornings. Day before yesterday it snowed at 
Suez, and a passenger just arrived from India says 
that the voyage up the Red Sea, hitherto known as a 
very horror of heat, was painfully cold ! We have 



38 EGYPT. 

tried in vain to get even an Arab mangal, or brazier 
of coals; but the hotel has none to offer. So we put 
on shawls and overcoats through the day, and go to 
bed early that warmth may come back under double 
blankets. '' 'Tis the clime of the East, 'tis the land of 
the sun ! " Turn over your Byron, and when found make 
note of Toward evening there is a heavy shower or 
two, and last night it rained again furiously. The 
old, unpaved streets thus become almost impassable 
from mud, and the authorities have invented no better 
plan than to collect and carry it away in carts. The 
consequence is that the level of the streets is rapidly 
sinking, and in a few years more the merchants will 
sit on high banks while ^heir customers stand below 
and bargain. His Highness, the Khedive, it appears, 
being engaged in erecting several new palaces in ad- 
dition to the thirty or forty he already possesses, has 
no money to spare for the cleansing and paving of 
Cairo. It is a sad condition, and one which claims 
our deepest sympathies. 

For the past two or three days I have been learning 
Cairo over ^gain, and the first confusion resolves itself 
into tolerably definite bounds. A line drawn north 
and south at the entrance of the Mooskee^ the ancient 
Frank street, separates what is left of the old city 
from the modern squares and avenues in the west. 
The latter are thus embraced in an i«rregular quad- 
rangle, extending to the Nile at the former towns of 
Boulak and Roda. The first impression made upon 
the stranger is thus the worst ; for the chief hotels are 
near the line of demolition and incomplete restoration 



SIGHTS IN AND AROUND CAIRO, 39 

which separates the two portions of the capital. Here, 
acres of old Saracenic houses are being levelled to the 
ground, or have left gaps of stone and dust behind 
them ; blocks of growing buildings are unsightly with 
scaffolding and heaps of prepared material ; old trees 
are cut away, new ones are making efforts to grow, 
and sun, wind, and dust alternately assail you. Two, 
three, or at the utmost five years, may see these gaps 
closed, the streets roofed with shade, the new gardens 
filled with bowery foliage, and the transition thereby 
relieved of its present disagreeable features. When 
that much is accomplished, Cairo may be more at- 
tractive than ever. 

The old streets seem crowded with life as never be- 
fore ; but here, as in Alexandria, I notice no change 
of any consequence in the appearance or habits of the 
Moslem population. The Cairenes were always more 
tolerant of the Franks than the Syrian Arabs or the 
Turks at Constantinople ; but now, when one wears 
a fez and speaks a little Arabic, they cannot be sure 
he is not in the Pasha's service, and are courteous as 
a matter of policy. The ugly women still go closely 
veiled, while the young and beautiful seem inclined 
to adopt the Turkish costume of wearing a thin white 
gauze, which keeps up the Oriental proprieties, while 
allowing them to enjoy the new luxury of admiration. 
I have seen numbers of Pashas' wives and Odalisques 
— Turkish or Circassian women — riding out in their 
carriages, with their lustrous eyes and tints of milk 
and roses scarcely dimmed to the public eye. Some 
of them were exquisitely beautiful. 



40 EGYPT. 

Another evidence of a change in the ideas of the 
governing class maybe found in the character of their 
dwellings. The curiously latticed balconies of carved 
wood, behind which the women were wont to sit 
unseen, are no longer constructed ; the many windows 
of the new Italian houses have no more formidable 
guard than ordinary Venetian blinds. In place of high 
stone walls around the gardens, there are frequently 
iron railings ; even little ornamental statues are be- 
ginning to creep in among the flowers. I am not able 
to say how far the daughters of the higher class are 
educated, but since many of them are now able to read 
and speak French, and are allowed to associate famil- 
iarly with European ladies, they must gradually be- 
come discontented with the jealous surveillance of the 
Orient. It will be a long time, however, before any 
reform of this kind strikes down among the lower 
orders of the people. 

I have almost come to the conclusion that there is 
no more cheerful and patient race in the world than 
the Egyptian Moslem. My remembrance of their na- 
ture, in this respect, is more than confirmed on seeing 
them again. The classes who make their living out 
of strangers are on the watch for a good bargain, of 
course, but they are easily manageable, and much less 
apt to violate an agreement than the Italians, t'ven 
the country children, with their incessant cry of 
^'backsheesh I '''' their laughing eyes and cheerful ac- 
ceptance of a refusal, contrast pleasantly with the in- 
cessant whine and the ^' per amove di Dio / ^^ which 
one hears in Rome and Naples. I have spoken to 



SIGHTS IN AND AROUND CAIRO. 41 

numbers of Fellahs or tradesmen in the streets, and 
always received a courteous and frank answer. If one 
of the natives happens to be rude in a crowd, he is 
generally reproved by the bystanders. Even sudden 
quarrels among the people are settled without malice, 
and you often see two good friends who, fifteen min- 
utes before, were pummeling each other. It is the 
worst possible policy for a traveller to lose his temper 
here ; a firm but cheerful bearing will carry him 
through all straits. 

I have found one thing quite unchanged — the old 
avenue of Indian sycamores and acacias leading to the 
palace and gardens of Shoobra. That is, the trees 
themselves remain, with their gnarled and twisted 
gray trunks, their immense snaky arms, and their un- 
interrupted arch of shade, forming a vista five miles 
long; but villas and gardens on either side have crept 
far out over the former fields, and the broad stretches 
of harvest land across which you once saw the Pyra- 
mids and the Mokattam hills, have shrunk into scat- 
tered patches, destined also to disappear in the course 
of time. This road is still the favorite drive of an 
afternoon, and nothing can be more picturesque than 
its mixture of camels and carriages, dandies and don- 
keys, chignons and henna stains, stove-pipes and 
white turbans, salaajn-aleikooms and ravi-de-vo2is- 
voirs. 

The magnificence of Shoobra is quite gone, how- 
ever. The pool in the Kiosk of Fountains is full of 
water-weeds ; the menagerie of African animals has 
been transferred to Gezeereh, across the Nile ; the 



42 EGYPT, 

ridiculous miniature hill, with its pine-trees, looks dis- 
mally dilapidated, and the garden has become an or- 
dinary orchard of orange, almond, and peach-trees. 
We did not think it worth while to enter the palace 
to see a lot of French furniture, so inferior, both in 
color and design, to the upholstery of Persia or Bag- 
dad. The gardener presented the ladies with bouquets, 
in which only the gilly-flower was fragrant ; to me he 
gave a button-hole rosebud, which grew only the 
sweeter as it withered. 

A day or two ago, on passing the strand old mosque 
of Sultan Hassan, we stopped and entered unchal- 
lenged. There is something very simple and noble 
in the interior. A bright-eyed little girl, who gave 
her name as Zaida, brought us slippers of matting, to 
wear over our shoes ; a very meek attendant accom- 
panied us ; another lingered beside the ?ni77ibar, or 
pulpit, but no others of the faithful were present to 
be shocked by our entrance — if, indeed, such an occur- 
rence shocks them at all now. But the coolness and 
stillness of the grand inner court, with its four open 
semi-domes on the sides, its central roof of sky, and 
its large fountain for ablutions, impressed us with 
greater solemnity than many an emblazoned Chris- 
tian cathedral. The perfect simplicity and sincerity 
of Moslem worship appeals to the Quaker element in 
my own blood ; so, when I enter a mosque, the signs 
of race and climate and the symbolism of faith fade 
away, and I only remember that we are fellow-believ- 
ers in the One God. 

Side by side with the pile of Sultan Hassan — the 



SIGHTS IN AND AROUND CAIRO. 43 

walls of which are beginning to crack dangerously — 
the Khedive is building a magnificent mosque of 
equal proportions, to bear the name of his mother. It 
is hardly yet sufficiently advanced to enable one to 
judge of its architectural style ; but I venture to say 
that it will embody the Saracenic fancies of a Euro- 
pean architect, and be about as truly Saracenic as the 
Church of the Madeleine is Greek. Many persons, 
however, will never detect the difference. Here, all 
around the base of the Citadel, there is tearing down 
and building up, with the usual rubbish and whirling 
dust. 

It was a relief to ride out the Abbasiyeh Gate, pass 
the deserted cemetery under the walls, and issue upon 
the brown, dry plain, where stand the Tombs of the 
Caliphs. Here the lonely domes, rippled with pat- 
terns of ornament like so many drifts of desert sand, 
the exquisitely varied forms of the minarets, the empty 
courts and falling arcades have only the arid hills for 
a background. A reach of the Nile valley shimmers 
in the distance like a dark-green lake. Strings of 
melancholy camels pass, from time to time, and the 
cries of their drivers sound almost like those of wild 
birds in the distance. Here the imagination is pow- 
erfully stirred, and the vanishing Orient becomes real 
again. 



CHAPTER V. 

A TRIP TO THE PYRAMIDS. 

Cairo, March 25, 1874. 
"X/ESTERDAY 1 decided that the weather had fin- 
-*• ally settled fair, and we might venture as far as 
the Pyramids without encountering either rain or cold 
wind. Yet it was a day which w^ould have deceived 
any one unfamiliar with the phenomena of the Egypt- 
ian climate. The sky was overcast, rather with a soft, 
ashen-colored fleecy vapor than with clouds; the 
wind blew lightly from the south, leaving a heavy, 
sultry feeling when it paused, and I was hardly sur- 
prised when an English tourist predicted ^^a fearful 
storm, presently." When I answered *^ a storm is 
impossible to-day," he looked at me with an air of 
pitying incredulity, and then turned away. We en- 
gaged an open carriage at twenty francs for the day, 
provided ourselves with lunch, and set out at nine 
o'clock. Just above Boulak the Nile is now spanned 
by a splendid iron bridge, beyond which a broad high- 
way has been built, leading to the very base of the 
Great Pyramid. This is certainly better than the 
former approach by ferry-boat and donkey-path, for it 
reduces the practical distance from three or four hours 
to one and a half. 

The way was crowded with camels and country 



A TRIP TO THE PYRAMIDS. 45 

people, the former bearing huge but not very heavy 
burdens of freshly-cut clover. Women and donkeys 
bore loads of vegetables, and the boys trotted, yelling, 
after them. Our dark footman, in his white cap and 
shirt, ran in advance of the carriage, parting the mul- 
titude to right and left with his long stick, and crying 
out : ^* Take care, there ! Take care of your legs ! the 
strangers are coming ! " Thus we passed over the 
bridge, entered the avenue of acacias leading to Gizeh, 
and saw the Pyramids, flushed with a faint rose-color, 
against the sky. The west bank of the Nile, Gezee- 
reh, was formerly an island, as its name indicates, and 
will soon be one again. The shallow channel having 
been allowed to fill up, or being purposely dammed, 
the river became so much stranger in its current that 
the Boulak shore is partially eaten away, and the island 
must needs be restored. We presently reached the 
track of the railway to Upper Egypt, which now starts 
from Embabeh, on the western bank, but will soon be 
run in connection with an early train from Alexandria, 
so that travellers can leave the Mediterranean in the 
morning and almost reach Siout, the capital of Upper 
Egypt, in the evening. Looking southward over the 
wheat fields, the immense fronts of two unfinished pal- 
aces meet the eye : I should take each of them to be as 
large as Buckingham Palace, in London. The Khe- 
dive is building them for his two sons. And taxes are 
high in Egypt, and money is scarce, and half of Mari- 
ette's inestimable collection of antiquities is stowed 
away in dark magazines for want of room to show 
them. 



46 EGYPT. 

The carriage-road is raised about twelve feet above 
the level of the soil, in order to be dry during the sea- 
son of inundation. The acacias with which it is 
planted seem to grow with difficulty, and just now 
many of them are being removed and replaced with 
trunks a foot or two in diameter. They need expens- 
ive watering,, however, until the roots are long enough 
to reach the permanent moisture of the lower soil. 
Even the huge old trees on the way to Shoobra seem 
to require an occasional drink, in dry seasons. 

Nothing could be lovelier than the intensely green 
wheat lands, stretching away to the Libyan Desert, 
bounded on the south by thick fringes of palm. The 
wind blowing over them came to us sweet with the 
odor of white clover blossoms : larks sang in the air, 
snowy ibises stood pensively on the edges of sparkling 
pools, and here and there a boy sang some shrill, 
monotonous Arab sqng. In the east, the citadel- 
mosque stretched its two minarets like taper fingers 
averting the evil eye ; and in front of us the Pyra- 
mids seemed to mock all the later power of the world. 
Not forty, but sixty centuries look down upon us from 
those changeless peaks. They antedate all other hu- 
man records, except those of the dynasty immediately 
preceding that which built them. Hebrew, Sanskrit^ 
and Chinese annals seem half modern when one stands 
at the foot of piles which were almost as old as the 
Coliseum is now when Abraham was born. 

We crossed the track of the railway, drove beside it 
for a mile or two further, and then struck directly 
across the level lands toward that rocky terrace of tiie 



A TRIP TO THE PYRAMIDS. 47 

Libyan Desert, which serves as a base for the Pyra- 
mids. Children ran beside the carriage clamoring for 
money, and one or two boys, laboring under the sin- 
gular delusion that they were contributing to our 
pleasure, played the reed flute after a most weary and 
distressing fashion. But there was less annoyance 
from these causes than you generally meet in Italy, or 
even some parts of Switzerland. 

Nearer the Desert, there were belts of drifted sand 
across the road, and the wheat and clover, after strug- 
gling briefly with their ancient enemy, ceased on 
either side. It was so difficult for the horses to climb 
the last slope that we dismounted and walked to the 
northern base of the Great Pyramid, on the top of 
which a little flag was fluttering, and two or three 
dark forms were perceptible. The modern house, 
built by the Khedive for the reception of his royal 
and imperial guests, offers to all visitors the advantage 
of shade and cold steps to sit on. A crowd of Fellahs 
was in attendance, eager to help us up and down, to 
climb both Pyramids in ten minutes, or to sell us 
''iffodern scaraboei. They are now, however, a much 
better behaved race than formerly. Nearly all of 
them have a fair smattering of English, their demands 
are regulated by custom, and if the traveller chooses 
one as an inevitable guide and protector, he escapes 
much annoyance from the others. 

I had no desire to make the ascent a second time, 
although it was well worth doing once. A crawl into 
the hot and stifling interior can only be recommended 
to the archaeologist. The grand, simple masses, built 



48 EGYPT. 

by Cheops and Cephrenes, satisfy both the eye and 
the imagination when viewed from below, a few hun- 
dred yards from their bases. The best point, I think, 
is a sandy mound beyond the Sphinx, whence you get 
the exact view given in one of Carl Werner's wonder- 
ful aquarelles. 

I found the Sphinx buried under ten or fifteen feet 
more of sand than when I saw him last. The face was 
evidently intended to be seen from below, for its ex- 
pression becomes almost grotesque when the spectator 
is brought so near its level. About eight years ago 
M. Mariette discovered a very ancient temple just be- 
yond it, and this, although lying wholly below the sur- 
face of the desert, has been kept tolerably clear of the 
drifting sand. I have seen nothing in Egypt which - 
seems so old as this temple. It is built mainly of 
rose-colored granite, the pillars simply square mono- 
liths, roofs and doorways of the same, and no sign 
of inscriptions or decorative sculptures. It is certain- 
ly older — and who shall say how much older ? — than 
the Pyramids. In some sepulchral chambers lying 
back of the pillared court, the roof is made of huge 
blocks of alabaster. The whole edifice, in its bare and 
massive simplicity, suggests Stonehenge rather than 
the later architecture of Egypt. 

A small fee opened for us one of the lower rooms of 
the Khedive's house, and we lunched in coolness and 
quiet. One of the native hangers-on, after looking at 
me for some time, said: 

*'' You were here a long while ago? " 

'' Yes," I answered. 



A TRIP TO THE PYRAMIDS. 



49 



*' Twenty years, or more ? '^ 

*^ And there was a gentleman with you — a Nejntso^ 
wee (German), I think?" 

*^ Yes." 

''And you had trouble with the men who went up 
the Pyramid ? You went to yonder village (pointing 
towards it), called the sheikh, and had the men pun- 
ished?" 

^^Yes." 

''And there was a boy who carried a water bottle; 
and the sheikh of the village told him to bring coffee 
for you ; and there was no coffee, at first ; and the 
shekh gave the boy a slap, threw him out the door, 
and told him not to come again until he brought 
it?" 

'* Yes:— well?" 

^' I was that boy." 

I questioned Achmet to know whether he had told 
the story of my first visit with its serio-comic interlude ; 
but he had not. The man's astonishing memory, 
after so many years of tourists, had recognized me and 
reproduced the incident with all its minor details. 

By this time, several other carriages had arrived 
from Cairo. Parties were lunching on the cold steps, 
bargaining for modern scaraboei, strolling towards the 
Sphinx with a crowd of Arabs at their heels, or climb- 
ing the steps of the Great Pyramid with many an awk- 
ward straddle, shoved from below and pulled up from 
above. There were tweed coats, eye-glasses, canes, 
chignons, fans, parasols — but let not the romantic 



50 EGYPT. 

reader suppose that the sublime repose of the old 
Egyptian world was in the least prejudiced by these 
objects. They were but as drift-wood or sea-weed, 
surging around the base of mightier natural pyramids, 
along the shores of Norway or Maine. One is carried 
so far back — set in the presence of such imperious hu- 
man will and unhindered pow'er — that the real and far 
more permanent greatness of our age fades away, and 
its careless representatives become, for the time, mere 
stingless insects, that hum and buzz for a few minutes, 
to be carried away by the next breeze. No ! — you 
might pack billiard-rooms, lager-beer saloons, cafes 
chaniants^ stock-brokers' offices, and Free-Trade 
Leagues, around the pyramids, hold political meet- 
ings with a speaker standing on the Sphinx's head, or 
make the adytum of the old temple below resound 
with revival hymns, and you could not diminish the 
impression which these wonderful monuments exact 
and compel you to feel. A dead faith — a lost race — a 
forgotten powder — a half recovered history — names and 
glories and supreme human forces become as shadows 
— yet what tremendous, overwhelming .records they 
have left behind ! 

As I rested in the shade, looking up to the gray 
pinnacles, so foreshortened by nearness that much of 
their actual height \vas lost, yet still indescribably 
huge, I could think of but one thing: we must have 
a new chronology of Man. There, before me, the 
Usher-Mosaic reckoning \vas not only antedated, but 
a previous growth, of long, uncertain duration, was 
made evident. There, in stones scattered about the 



A TRIP TO THE PYRAMIDS. 51 

Desert, were inscriptions cut long before any tradition 
of Hebrew, Sanskrit, Phoenician, or Greek — clear, in- 
telligible words, almost as legible to modern scholar- 
ship as those of living languages. This one long, un- 
broken stream of light into the remote Past illumi- 
nates darker historic apparitions on all sides, and 
sweeps us, with or without our will, to a new and 
wonderful backward starting-point. Of course, the 
learned in all countries are familiar with our recently 
acquired knowledge on this point ; but is it not time 
to make it the property of the people everywhere — to 
discard the unmanly fear that one form of truth can 
ever harm any other form — to reveal anew, through 
the grandeur of Man's slow development, the unspeak- 
able grandeur of the Divine Soul by which it is di- 
rected ? 

I would not venture to say that even the English 
tourist, who addressed me with : ''Is there — aw— 
anything particular to see here ? " was not touched 
somewhere in the roots of his externally indifferent 
nature. I am quite sure that cold chicken was not 
the only thought of the young ladies who sat lunching 
on the steps. When^I find a gay young Irishman, to 
whom snipe and wild ducks are a prime interest, nev- 
theless going out to see the Pyramids by moonlight, 
and then again at two o'clock in the morning to climb 
them for the sunrise, I am convinced that Cheops 
buildcd better than he knew, and that this pile of 
stones means much more to the world than the depos- 
itory of his royal carcase. 

Well : I meant to send you practical, realistic re- 



52 EGYPT, 

ports of Egypt, and this letter will be sure to bring 
down upon me the wrath of Mark Twain, and all 
others who distrust earnest impressions. I plead guil- 
ty, however, and confess that I do not wholly belong 
to the generation which makes jokes of accidents and 
murders, and finds material for laughter in classic art. 



CHAPTER VI. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE KHEDIVE. 

Cairo, March 27, 1874. 

TWO or three days ago Mr. Beardsley, the Agent 
and Consul-General of the United States for 
Egypt, during an interview with the Khedive, was kind 
enough to request that His Highness would receive 
Colonel Knox, of New York and Siberia, and my- 
self. Permission was accorded at once, and on my 
r-eturn from the Pyramids I found that the hour of 
half-past ten yesterday morning was already appointed 
for the ceremony. The etiquette of the Egyptian 
Court is sufficiently simple; full evening-dress, with 
white cravat, as at most of the German Courts, is the 
prescribed costume. On our way to the Consulate 
we picked up an open carriage with a respectable driver, 
beside whom the official kavass might sit without de- 
preciating his gold lace and sabre, and then, accom- 
panied by Mr. Beardsley, we drove to the Palace of 
Abdeen. This is a plain, two-story building, stuc- 
coed and painted light-blue, in the southwestern part 
of Cairo, fronting on a square which has been laid out 
between the old city and the new suburbs. A tall 
palm-tree, on each side of the main entrance, is the 
only ornamental feature. There are a few flower-beds 
and a fountain in the inner court, half a dozen soldiers 



54 EGYPT. 

stand on guard, and as many minor officials wait at 
the portal leading to the Khedive's apartments. But 
these outward signs of state and power are remark- 
ably few and unpretending. 

The Master of Ceremonies, Murad Pasha, an Alba- 
nian with amiable blue eyes and ruddy face, received 
us at the door, and ushered us into a waiting-room, 
handsomely carpeted and furnished in European style. 
He spoke French tolerably, and started a conversation 
on indifferent matters by informing me that he had 
never been to the top of the great Pyramid. Presently 
Ibrahim Pasha, the Khedive'.s nephew, and one of the 
fortunate youths whose marriages were recently cele- 
brated with so much pomp, entered the room. He is 
the son of Achmet Pasha — the next heir before the 
Khedive — who was drowned at Kafr ez-Zayat by the 
railway train running into the Nile. I should take 
Ibrahim Pasha to be twenty-two or twenty-three; he 
is tall, rather handsome, with an expression of phleg- 
matic amiability. He made a few languid remarks, 
but afterward showed a little interest in speaking of 
an American trotting mare (trotteuse) which he had 
recently acquired. It is now, in fact, an every-day 
sight in Cairo to find an Egyptian official driving at a 
spanking rate, with a smart native tiger sitting behind 
him. 

Precisely at the appointed minute, the Khedive's 
Secretary announced that His Highness would receive 
us. Murad Pasha led the way as far as the first landing, 
where he halted, leaving Mr. Beardsley to mount the 
second staircase, followed by Colonel Knox and my- 



INTERVIEW WITH THE KHEDIVE, 55 

self. The Khedive was standing alone, at the further 
end of the large carpeted hall above. At the top of 
the stairs we all paused and bowed ; then His High- 
ness came briskly forward, bowed again, and shook 
hands as we were presented, pronouncing the usual 
courteous phrases in very excellent French. He led 
the way into a small, comfortable apartment, quite 
like an English parlor in its size and appointments, 
seated himself on a chair in one corner near the win- 
dow, and invited us, by a slight gesture, to take places 
on the sofa near him. 

Having once seen the Khedive's father, the famous 
Ibrahim Pasha, the fierce old Lion of the Orient, in 
1845, in Florence, I sought and easily found a strong 
resemblance to him in the former's face. But it was 
a softer, kinder, more cheerful likeness. Ismail Pasha 
is about forty-four years of age, and of the medium 
height, although his corpulence makes him appear 
shorter. In spite of his girth of chest and the mas- 
sive thickness of his legs, he moves with quickness 
and vigor ; and his face, phlegmatic in repose, be- 
comes bright and animated when he speaks. The 
pleasant gray eyes gleam under the rather bushy 
brows ; the mouth, full and voluptuous as in all the 
race, is mobile and expressive, without those grim 
lines in the corners which indicate a cruel inflexibility 
of will. He wears his own thick dark hair under the 
fez, and a full beard, clipped moderately close. His 
costume was a dark coat of tweed cloth, gray trousers, 
and patent-leather boots : a single diamond in the 
cravat was the only ornament. 



56 EGYPT. 

At first I thought the Khedive slightly at a loss to 
open the conversation, a very natural and probably 
frequent experience with all rulers upon whom the 
etiquette of their own Courts is imposed. But in the 
Orient forms are looser, there is a franker, more dem- 
ocratic character of intercourse between the governing 
and the governed, and we felt at liberty to make re- 
marks and ask questions — in short, to assist in stirring 
up the currents of talk. His Highness spoke with 
great clearness, elegance of style, and intelligence, 
upon all the subjects discussed. He never hesitated 
for a word, chose apt and direct illustrations, and ac- 
companied his account of recent events in Soudan 
with graceful and lively gestures. The circumstance 
that I knew the region, as far as the land of the Shil- 
looks, led him to go into many interesting details of 
the recent conflict between the Egyptian troops and 
the army of Dar-Fur. 

His attempts to suppress the trade in slaves, which 
is the principal source of revenue for the King of Dar- 
Fur, was, he assured us, the sole cause of the difficulty. 
Betvveen Dar-Fur and the Egyptian province of Kor- 
dofan, there is a wild, wandering tribe which has thus 
far been allowed to retain its old liberty on condition 
of informing the Egyptian Governor of all hostile 
movements on the part of Dar-Fur. But when the lat- 
ter collected an army of ten thousand men, with three 
cannon, which Said Pasha had sent as a present to 
their King, during his viceroyalty, this intervening 
tribe became faithless, failed to report the movement 
and held back, waiting to see which side would be 



INTERVIEW WITH THE KHEDIVE. 57 

victorious. The Egyptian commander had but 300 
soldiers when the invasion occurred. By hastily call- 
ing together all armed civil subordinates within reach 
he increased his force to 600 men, and then gave bat- 
tle. The Egyptians, however, had 100 well-organized 
soldiers, armed with Remington rifleSp several rifled 
cannon, and one mitrailleuse. Their victory was com- 
plete. They captured the enemy's cannon, killed the 
Dar-Furian general, and dispersed the army. The 
latest report is that a new force, which shall embrace 
the entire m.ilitary strength of Dar-Fur and be com- 
manded by the king's son, is nearly ready to renew 
hostilities. But the Khedive has evidently no fear of 
the result. 

I made no reference to the new expedition, under 
Colonel Gordon, now on its way to the lake regions of 
Central Africa, because it is generally understood 
that the Khedive is not over-well pleased with any 
reference to Sir Samuel Baker, Pasha. The latter 
seems to have spent about $2,500,000 without accom- 
plishing anything more than a temporary advantage 
over certain tribes — in any case so much less than was 
either promised or expected, that the accomplished 
facts are not sufficient for the most modest glorifi- 
cation. Colonel Gordon has an excellent reputation 
for pluck and endurance, and now, since the road is 
in a measure broken for him, he may be able to com- 
plete the work wherein Baker, as a pioneer, nearly in- 
evitably failed. The expedition of Rohlfs to the Lib- 
yan Desert, however, was not forbidden ground; but 
the Khedive informed us that he had no news of it 



58 EGYPT. 

since the beginning of February. Dr. Schweinfurth, 
whose remarkable expedition to the country of the 
Nyam-Nyams will shortly be published, is waiting in 
the great Oasis of Kharjeh (four or five days' journey 
west of Thebes,) for news of Rohlfs's party. Two days 
ago he informed the German Consulate here that the 
expedition, according to a rumor which had reached 
the Oasis, was on its return, but the Khedive con- 
sidered this as a mere report, entitled to no credence. 

After an animated talk of half an hour His High- 
ness rose, which was a signal that we should take our 
leave. He accompanied us into the outer hall, shook 
hands again, very courteously begged us to apply to 
him in case we found he could be of any service, and 
remained standing until we had descended the first 
flight of steps, when there were final bows on both 
sides. His manner, during the reception, was that of 
an intelligent and thoroughly-bred gentleman toward 
strangers who are commended to his attention. 
Murad Pasha received us at the foot of the steps, 
accompanied us to the portal, and the interview was 
over. 

The Khedive spoke of a race of pigmies which had 
been discovered in the very heart of Central Africa, 
beyond the land of the Nyam-Nyams, and advised us 
to look at two natives of the tribe which had recently 
reached Cairo. On leaving the Palace of Abdeen, 
therefore, we drove immediately to the Palace of the 
Nile, near Boulak, where they are now kept. On 
making inquiry, the soldiers in the inner court imme- 
diately pointed out two small boys (apparently), wear- 



INTERVIEW WITH THE KHEDIVE. 59 

ing the fez, and dressed in jackets and trovvsers of 
white wool. I should have taken them for children of 
some Ethiopian tribe at the first glance, and was not 
satisfied, until after a close inspection, that one of 
them was a full-grown man. 

Dr. Schweinfurth saw some natives of the tribe 
among the Nyam-Nyams, but only reached the bor- 
ders of their country, which lies beyond that of the 
latter, and therefore south of the equator — probably 
from three to five hundred miles west of the central 
part of the Albert Nyanza. But after Schweinfurth's 
return the veteran Italian traveler Miani, whose 
name, carved upon a tree near Fatiko, will be remem- 
bered by all readers of Speke's and Baker's narratives, 
started on a new journey of explora'tion from which he 
was destined never to return. On the 6th of Novem- 
ber last some boats reached Khartoum with the jour- 
nals and collections of Miani, who died in a country 
called Monbutto. These were taken by the governor 
of Khartoum, and three pigmies, who were supposed 
to be slaves, were temporarily imprisoned. When the 
intelligence reached Cairo, the Khedive ordered Mi- 
ani's papers and collections to be given to the Italian 
Consul and the pigmies to be sent to him. One of 
them, a woman, died on the way ; the other two 
reached here a few w-eeks ago. They are the first of 
their race who have ever been seen outside of Central 
Africa. The Khedive, who gave me these particulars, 
seemed much interested in the people, and probably 
intends to use them, if they survive, as a medium of 
future intercourse with their tribe. 



6o EGYPT. 

The soldiers brought the pigmies forward for our 
inspection. They came, half willingly, half with an 
air of defiance, or of protest against the superior 
strength which surrounded them. A tall Dinka, from 
the White Nile, blacker than charcoal, who accom- 
panied them was one of Miani's men. He spoke 
some Arabic, and I was thus able to get a little addi- 
tional information through him. He assured me that 
the pigmies were called Naam ; that their country 
was a journey of a year and a half from Khartoum 
(probably the time occupied by a trading expedition 
in going thither and returning), and that the place 
from which they came had the name of Takkatikat.* 
The taller of the two pigmies, Tubbul by name, was 
twenty years old; the younger, Karal, only ten or 
twelve. 

The little fellows looked at me with bright, question- 
ing, steady eyes, while I examined and measured them. 
Tubbul was forty-six inches in height, the legs being 
twenty- two inches, and the body, with the head, 
twenty-four, which is a somewhat better proportion 
than is usual in savage tribes. Head and arms were 
quite symmetrical, but the spine curved in remarkably 
from the shoulders to the hip-joint, throwing out the 
abdomen, which was already much distended, proba- 
bly from their former diet of beans and bananas. Yet 
the head was erect, the shoulders on the line of gravity^ 
and there was no stoop in the posture of the body, as 

'" Dr. Schweinfurth calls the country " Akka," in his 
recent work. 



INTERVIEW WITH THE KHEDIVE. 6i 

in the South African biishmen. Tubbul measured 
twenty-six inches around the breast and twenty-eight 
around the abdomen; his hands and feet were coarse- 
ly formed, but not large, only the knee-joints being 
disproportionately thick and clumsy. The facial angle 
was fully up to the average ; there was a good develop- 
ment of brain, line intelligent eyes, and a nose so flat- 
tened that, in looking down the forehead from above, 
one saw only the lips projecting beyond it. The nos- 
trils were astonishingly wide and square ; the com- 
plexion was that of a dark mulatto. 

The boy Karal was forty- three inches high, with the 
same general proportions. Both had woolly hair, cut 
short in front, but covering the crown with a circular 
cap of crisp little rolls. Tubbul's age showed itself, 
on nearer examination, in his hands, feet, and joints, 
rather than in his face. He had no beard, but was 
apparently of virile years. I lifted him from the 
ground, and should not estimate his weight at more 
than sixty-five pounds. The soldiers stated that nei- 
ther of the two had learned more than a few words of 
Arabic, but that they talked a great deal to each other 
in their own language. However, when ordered to 
speak, Tubbul turned and walked a\vay. A soldier 
seized and drew him back, whereupon he stood still 
and sullen in his former place. At a recent meeting 
of the Egyptian Institute it was stated that the lan- 
guage of these pigmies has no resemblance to that 
of any other in Central Africa. 

The country of Naam, or Takkatikat, or whatever 
may be its correct name, is reported to be an equato- 



62 EGYPT. 

rial table-land covered with low^ dense thickets, in 
which the pigmies hide. The Khedive told me that 
they are quite warlike, and by no means despicable 
foes to their larger negro neighbors, since they are 
active as apes and difficult to find among their native 
jungles. Dr. Schweinfurth supposes them to be the 
pigmies mentioned by Herodotus. The Darwinians 
will hardly find an intermediate race between man and 
monkey, in them. Their curious physical peculiari- 
ties, especially the curvature of the spine, the promi- 
nent development of the shoulders, the wide mouth, 
with flat but distinctly marked lips and the squareness 
and breadth of the nostrils are not of a simian charac- 
ter. In fact, they look less like the chimpanzee than 
several of the tall and athletic negro tribes. 

When I was on the White Nile, in 1852, the Nyam- 
Nyams were spoken of by the people as a frightful 
race of cannibals, with tails. No one had ever seen 
them ; the very name was a terror to the natives of 
Soudan and an obstacle to the traveller. Now their 
country has been reached and partially explored, and 
specimens of the race have ventured even as far as ' 
Khartoum. The pigmies prove to be far more inter- 
esting than they, from an ethnological point of view, 
and we shall certainly soon learn more of them. 



CHAPTER VII. 

RAILWAYS IN EGYPT. 

Cairo, April 2, 1874. 

IT is not quite twenty years since the first railway in 
Egypt, from Alexandria to Cairo — rendered neces- 
sary by the overland route from England to India — 
was completed. The construction was not expensive, 
the two arms of the Nile were not bridged but crossed 
by steam ferries, and the result was so encouraging 
that a continuation of the line from Cairo to Suez was 
soon determined upon and carried out. The first road 
was one hundred and thirty-one miles in length, the 
second ninety-four. The latter offered few difficulties 
in the way of grading ; the line followed the old cara- 
van route, skirting the northern base of the mountains 
between Cairo and the Red Sea, and the chief incon- 
venience was the necessity of carrying supplies of water 
from the Nile to the intermediate stations. 

Since the Suez Canal has been completed this line 
is changed. The new fresh-water canal, leaving the 
Nile at Cairo, following the course of an ancient Egyp- 
tian canal, and supplying the town of Ismailia, with a 
branch to Suez and a large pipe extending fifty miles, 
to Port Said, on the Mediterranean, suggested a change 
in the rout of the railway. The track directly across 



64 EGYPT. 

the desert was taken up, and a new line built, beside 
the fresh-water canal, with a branch to the Alexandria- 
Cairo road at Ben ha, and another from the town of 
Zagazig (in the eastern part of the Land of Goshen) 
to Cairo. Thus the passengers overland to India now 
travel directly from Alexandria to Suez, without touch- 
ing the capital. The number of steamers which tra- 
verse the Suez Canal, however, is constantly increas- 
ing, and the stage by rail through Egypt will no 
doubt be given up altogether in a few years more. 

But the building of railways in Egypt thus intro- 
duced by the exigencies of a foreign route of travel 
will henceforth be continued, both as a necessity and 
a source of profit to the Government. The natives 
have bravely overcome whatever prejudice or super- 
stition they may have had in the beginning ; they now 
crowd the trains, evidently enjoy the rapid motion, 
and even trust their donkeys, camels, and horses of 
Nedjid blood, to the cattle-cars. Freight as well as 
passenger traffic increases constantly, and, carelessly 
as the trains seem to run on all except the main lines, 
accidents are very rare. The officials have acquired 
a certain amount of exactness in regard to time, but 
in a passive mechanical way, as if the subject had not 
yet reached either brain or conscience; and I presume 
the telegraphic signals of stoppage or delay are still 
looked upon as a sort of pastime, to allay their lan- 
guid curiosity. Somehow, nevertheless, the machine 
keeps going ; the time-tables may be reduced to a 
state of chaos, but the trains avoid collision, and the 
passengers neither fear nor complain. All is quiet. 



RAIL WA YS IN EG YP T. 65 

easy, good-natured. At the stations a man cries out 
to the people on both sides of the track : *^ Take care 
of your legs, O men, O women ! " just as the donkey- 
boys do in the bazars. The waiting-rooms are swept 
as rarely as the chambers in the old-fashioned khans, 
and, like them, are populous with fleas. There is 
generally a long divan, covered with dirty chintz 
cushions, but no European chairs. The tickets are 
printed in Arabic, except the first-class, which are 
also in English. 

At a way-station on the road to Upper Egypt, I 
ventured to express a little impatience, after waiting 
three hours for the one daily slow train, and finding 
that its whereabouts had not even been announced by 
telegraph. '* You must remember," said the official 
to whom I spoke, *^that this is a new road, and it 
takes some time to get everything in order." 

*^ How long has the road been open ? " I asked. 

^^Only five or six years." 

*' And when do you expect to have the trains run- 
ning on time? In forty or fifty years?" I inquired, 
with a grave countenance, and the official, never sus- 
pecting irony, answered : 

"Inshallah I " (If God wills it. ) 

There is now a tolerably complete network of com- 
munication by rail throughout the Delta. From Zag- 
azig, on the Suez road, a branch runs to Mansourah, 
and thence to Damietta; another from Tantah to 
Mansourah ; a third to Dessouk, on the Rosetta 
branch of the Nile ; and there are various other 
shorter lines leading to the rich agricultural centres. 



66 EGYPT. 

The road from Alexandria to Rosetta will soon be 
bnilt, together with another leading directly from the 
Alexandria-Suez line to Port Said. When the latter 
are finished there will be no part of the Delt-^ more 
than twenty miles from a railroad. The great increase 
in the area of cultivated land must be attributed rather 
to this fact than to any special encouragement given 
by the Khedive's Government to the agricultural in- 
dustry of the country. 

The Upper Egypt Railway was finished as far as 
Benisouef, seventy-five miles south of Cairo, some five 
or six years ago, and has made rather slow progress 
since, although it seems to do a good business, in spite 
of the competition of the Nile boats. The track is now 
finished as far as Siout, the capital of Upper Egypt, 
two hundred and fifty miles from Cairo, where it will 
probably rest awhile, before being extended to Ken- 
neh, Thebes, and Assouan. A branch road twenty-five 
miles in length, strikes westward from it across an arm 
of the Libyan Desert and reaches Medeeneh, the capi- 
tal of the province — or, rather, large detached oasis — 
of the Fyoom. From Medeeneh, again, two branches, 
some fifteen or twenty miles long, connect with sugar 
factories belonging to the Khedive, but trains are only 
put upon them during a small part of the year. 

Workmen and material are at present being sent up 
the Nile to construct a small railway around the First 
Cataract at Assouan. This undertaking will hardly 
require more than a year to complete ; it will make a 
difference of several days in the transport of freight, 
etc., between Egypt and the countries of Soudan. 



RAIL WA YS IN EGYPT. 67 

A far more important plan, however, is the building 
of a road from Wady Haifa, the Second Cataract, to 
the Ethiopian Nile, at the old capital of Shendy, 
within seventy or eighty miles of Khartowm. This 
route has been surveyed, and the report, prepared by 
Mr. Fowler, an English engineer, presents the under- 
taking in a very feasible form. The road will follow 
the Nile through Nubia to the town of Edabbe, where 
the great northward and eastward curve or *^ elbow'' 
of the river commences, and will thence strike through 
the Bayuda Desert to a terminus not far from the 
junction of the White and Blue Niles. Its entire length 
would be about five hundred and thirty-three miles, 
and the cost of construction, on account of the easy 
grading and low price of labor would be comparatively 
small. There are numerous good wells in the Bayuda 
Desert, obviating the necessity of transporting supplies 
. of water. 

All this looks well, but Mr. Fowler's plan of eventu- 
ally continuing the line to Khartoum, and then build- 
ing another road thence along the northern base of 
the Abyssinian Highlands, to the Red Sea, strikes me 
as being a little too ambitious. It is true, as he says, 
that overland passengers to India, disembarking at 
Alexandria, and having a continuous line of rail to the 
Abyssinian port of Massowa, would not only avoid the 
dreaded temperature of the Red Sea, but would gain 
three or four days in time ; but, I imagine, before this 
line is completed, there will already be a direct rail- 
way in existence, passing through Asiatic Turkey, 
Persia, and Afghanistan. Or, will it be by the way 



63 RAIL WA YS IN EGYP T. 

of Astrakhan) the Aral Sea, or the Oxus ? For if 
England does not soon build such a line, Russia will. 

The Egyptian Government, by overturning the jeal- 
ous and despotic chieftaincies of Nubia, Ethiopia, and 
Soudan, has reduced the great central region watered 
by the Nile, to tolerable order. It has now the higher 
task of repopulating, by a wise and just administration 
of affairs, the desolated provinces, re-opening the old, 
sand-choked canals of irrigation, turning the plains of 
wiry grass and poisonous euphorbia into harvests of 
wheat, cane, and cotton, and finally (since every 
measure here is dictated by a policy of pure selfish- 
ness), drawing a revenue from the moderate taxation 
of wealth, ten-fold more than now, from the oppressive 
taxation of poverty. In spite of all that has been 
done, up to this time, I see no reason for such a 
hope. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

. A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. 

Cairo, April 2, 1874. 
A S a region which is in Egypt, but in many strik- 
'^^- ing respects not of it ; which is as fertile as the 
Nile-valley, yet never inundated; which has been 
known and inhabited for five thousand years, is within 
a day's journey of Cairo, and still remains unvisited by 
the annual throng of tourists — the Fyoom may claim 
to be something of a curiosity. Among the English 
and American residents of Alexandria and Cairo I 
have found, it is true, several who intend making 
shooting excursions thither (water-fowl being very 
abundant at certain seasons), but not one who has 
ever carried out his intention. The last description of 
the region was written a year ago by a French art- 
student, who accompanied his master, Gerome. Its 
inaccuracies are as evident as they are fantastic, yet 
of the kind which stimulates the reader to go and see 
for himself Wilkinson and Mariette Bey supply the 
necessary archaeology — which is not very extensive — 
and this is the end of preparation, unless the traveller 
be of luxurious habits. 

There were two young Americans in Cairo who were 
willing to venture with me beyond the frontier of 



70 EGYPT. 

hotels, without taking tents and camp equipage with 
us. An old, devout, one-eyed Moslem, named Hassan 
Suleyman, was engaged by Achmet as attendant and 
interpreter; shawls and Bedouin cnpotes constituted 
the only baggage. In such light travelling order we 
set forth four days ago on a cool morning for the rail- 
way station of Boulak-Dakrour, beyond the Nile, 
where the daily train for Upper Egypt starts whenever 
it gets ready, without regard to the published time- 
table. Bridge and highways were crowded, at that 
early hour, with country-people bound for market, 
camels laden with bales of freshly-cut clover, and 
donkeys hardly visible under huge sacks of vegetables. 
The Pyramids, flushed with red, and wonderfully 
sharp in outline, seemed to have been moved much 
nearer the Nile since the evening before, when they 
hovered like half-transparent shadows on the dim 
verge of the plain. 

This railway station, like the others I had already 
seen, seems to have assumed the character of the old 
caravan camp. Scores of Fellahs, petty merchants, 
and sometimes also Bedouins squat in the dry dust 
and bargain or gossip ; bales and jars are heaped 
around, camels kneel with tethered knees, and women 
with oranges, or boys with earthen water-bottles cry 
their wares far more loudly and mournfully than is 
necessary. Even the native passengers are in no 
hurry to take their seats, for the train is in no hurry 
to go; the locomotive is like an old caravan-leader, 
who summons one and then another detachment of his 
troop, and pretends that all is ready long before he 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. yi 

thinks of starting. By degrees, however, the open 
third-class cars were filled; some officials and pros- 
perous merchants settled themselves in the more com- 
fortable second-class, but we were the only tenants of 
the faded compartment, cushioned with dusty leather, 
which bore the word ^* First'' (in English) on the 
door. Our departure, also, like that of a caravan, was 
so quiet that we hardly noticed it: there was only 
noise during the preparation. 

Once beyond Gizeh, the palm-groves and wheat- 
fields sped rapidly past ; the pyramids of Sakkarah 
and then of Dashoor, took their ^^ eternal stands" in 
turn^ on their platforms of wind-blown Libyan sand. 
Here and there a reach of the Nile glittered on the 
left, and the yellow Arabian hills drew nearer. The 
unfolding changes of the landscape would have been 
monotonous had they not been so bright : but every 
field hastening towards harvest was of a more succu- 
lent green than the last, and every cape of the desert 
hills on either side blazed more keenly under the in- 
creasing fervor of the sun. I had seen the same pic- 
tures, far more slowly evolved, from the deck of a Nile 
boat, in 185 1, and could not then wish to behold them 
in swifter succession ; but now the very swiftness with 
which they came seemed an additional charm. 

We halted at Bedrasheyn (station for Memphis!) 
then at Kafr el-Iyat, and one or two other unimpor- 
tant towns. At each place a multitude of the Fellah 
youth of both sexes suddenly made their appearance 
with water-bottles and bunches of green horse-beans, 
which they offered for sale. A grim brakeman — if 



72 EGYPT. 

there is such an appendage to these dehberate trains 
— in every case drove away the children, pursued 
them, overtook them in the fields, emptied the water 
or scattered the bean-pods, regardless of the lament- 
able shrieks and weeping which followed, and then 
returned to the train with an air of triumph, only to 
provoke a fresh attempt. In vain we commissioned 
Hassan to stop the persecution of the persistent young 
Egyptians, the sale of water and raw beans seeming to 
us sanctioned even by all prohibitory laws; the brake- 
man, or whatever he was, continued his crusade at 
each station, and we always left a shrill chorus of 
curses and lamentations behind us. Centuries hence, 
no doubt, the same scenes will be repeated, for the 
Egyptians learn a new fact even more slowly than the 
Bourbons in Europe or the Jackson Democrats at 
home. 

After nearly three hours of such travel we reached 
the station of El-Wasta, about fifty-five miles south 
of Cairo. Here we left the train to pursue its way- 
ward course towards the frontiers of Upper Egypt, 
and waited for the corresponding train from above, 
after the arrival of which, and not sooner, we should 
be forwarded westward on a branch-road to Medeeneh, 
the capital of the Fyoom. Hassan found a tolerably 
clean room in the station-house, and began to unpack 
our lunch, when the announcement came that this 
apartment was reserved for high government officials, 
and dare not be profaned by Frank tourists. So we 
betook ourselves to the waiting-room for the higher 
classes, which had not been swept for some months, 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM, 73 

and would not have been temporarily habitable but 
for windows without glass. Hassan, as a devout Mus- 
sulman, refused the offered wine ; but the station- 
master scented it from afar, and so implied a consent 
in his first refusal that both conscience and palate 
were finally satisfied. After all, I can tolerate many 
of the faults of the native Egyptians : no other peo- 
ple are so frankly hypocritical. Their attempts to 
circumvent you are a sort of conventional obedience 
to the promptings of their self-interest — if the at- 
tempt succeed, the success justifies it — if it fail, well, 
they have at least done their duty ! 

In the warmth of his opened heart the station- 
master informed us that the down train was due at 
half-past one, but hardly ever arrived before five ; so 
we were left to amuse ourselves at El-Wasta in the 
interval. While my friends went off to try to shoot 
pigeons with revolvers, I made a sketch of the Ha- 
ram el-Kedab (False or Lying Pyramid), which rose 
massive and majestic above the western sands. It is 
singular that this monument has received so little at- 
tention from archaeologists. Its form, a diminishing 
cube, ending in a terrace from which rises a second 
and narrower cube, is like that of no other Egyptian 
pyramid. In the necropolis beside it, Mariette Bey 
found, two or three years ago, the wonderful painted 
statues of Prince Ra-Hotep, and Princess Nefer-t, of 
the Third Dynasty, undoubtedly the oldest, as they are 
the most excellent specimens of Egyptian art. There 
is much evidence to declare that this pyramid is con- 
siderably older than that of Cheops, — and it has never 



74 EGYPT. 

yet been opened. However much of Ancient Egypt 
has been discovered and deciphered, I am convinced 
that still m.ore is waiting under sand and behind stub- 
born masonry. 

A swarm of Fellah boys so persecuted me, that I 
finally made a temporary surrender, and tried to find 
a diversion in ^'chaffing" them. But they were al- 
most too much for me, unless my knowledge of Ara- 
bic had been complete. If I happened, for a moment, 
to get the better of one, in repartee, in five minutes 
he reappeared with something stronger and sharper. 
The backsheesh I gave, only brought demands for 
more, and when I remonstrated a^j^amst such shame- 
less greed, the inevitable answer was : ^^ What would 
you have ? we are all miserably poor." Finally, I re- 
treated into a little garden of fig, pomegranate, and 
date trees adjoining the station, and prohibited the 
imps from coming near. It was quite in vain : they 
kept within the range of my eyes, as I turned to one 
side or the other, and would soon have exhausted 
even my assumed Oriental patience, had not two 
grave seigniors arrived from the village. When the lat- 
ter began to talk with me, the boys became silent and 
respectful. The courtesy, the easy, quiet dignity of 
the men was something delightful to encounter. It 
was not long before the wildest and rudest of the boys 
was persuaded to give an imitation of the ziunarra^ or 
Arab flute, which he rendered by the voice with a 
good deal of skill : then, as I preferred a song, he 
threw back his head, opened his throat to the utmost, 
and simply released (as it seemed) a hundred varia- 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. 75 

tions of some strain of yearning and passion which 
had been pent within him. Arabic notes are divided 
into thirds of tones instead of semi-tones, and the 
music thus receives a pecuUar swaying, undulating 
character which it is quite impossible to describe. With 
the wildest abandon^ the song is yet held within met- 
rical limits ; certain words, as they recur, flutter, and 
tremble through a scale which is new to our ears ; 
but the sentiment of the song can never be mistaken. 

How could this thoughtless boy, still singing so- 
prano, so give voice to the intensest virile passion? 
It was a puzzle to me, as I looked upon his bright, 
laughing eyes, yet heard the deep-breathed '^ Allah ! " 
which attested the supreme satisfaction of the two 
men. With the same groans, or rather grunts, of 
ardent spiritual delight, as I have often heard at camp- 
meetings at home, they accompanied the lines of a 
song which was a ruder reflection of that which Solo- 
mon sang, ^' Open to me : the dew is on my head : I 
wander lonely in the night — O, night, O, night ! 
Hearken, my beloved, 1 seek thee in the night ! " 
Even the smaller boys were silent, with a touch of ig- 
norant respect on their faces : to a stranger the per- 
formance would have appeared religious rather than 
amorous. There was a decent pause afterwards : then 
the lawless greed and mockery of the young crowd 
broke forth, worse than before. 

Punctually to the usual delay, the train from above 
made its appearance, and paid a visit of nearly half 
an hour. After its departure, we took our seats in one 
of the passenger-cars attached to a freight-train to 



76 EGYPT, 

Medeeneh, and were tormented by the unwearied boys 
until the motion became too rapid for them to follow. 
There was still an hour before sunset, and twenty-five 
miles to be traversed ; but the gap in the Libyan hills 
to the westward hinted of no heavy grades, and we 
soon attained a cheerful rate of speed. The road 
crosses the green plain of the Nile nearly at right 
angles to the course of the river. At that hour, hus- 
bandman and camel and buffalo had finished their 
day's work, and were plodding towards one or the 
other of the villages which nestled under their several 
palm-groves, in the distance. One, only, lay near the 
railway-track, built upon the ruins of many centuries 
of previous villages, above a pool of water fed from 
the distant Nile. A place so fantastic in appearance 
I have rarely seen. Every house in it was surmount- 
ed with from six to a dozen pointed turrets, with dimin- 
utive doors and windows for the convenience of the 
pigeon inhabitants. Large flocks of the pearly-plum- 
aged birds circled over the palms, going forth to for- 
age or returning with their spoils. 

A mile beyond this curious picture every sign of 
life vanished. A few yards of drifted sand, pierced 
with clumps of a tenacious grass which sends its roots 
down to the lurking moisture, divide the garden of 
the Nile from the Libyan Desert. In scarcely more time 
than is required to write these words, we found our- 
selves in a bare yellow waste, and all the rich land of 
life lying as a diminishing belt behind us. Some 
low ridges soon hid it wholly from our view ; a vast 
plain of gravel, dotted with stony hummocks, and 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. 77 

pools of sand where in living regions one would look 
for water, stretched to the sky on all sides. The air 
took on a sudden freshness and purity ; the life within 
me beat more joyously from its contrast with the ex- 
ternal lifelessness ; it was the perfect atmosphere of 
the Desert, at last ! But to inhale it, thus, from the 
open windows of a railway-car, — to see the yellow 
ridges appear, speed past and recede, while remem- 
bering the camel's pace and the distant well, — was to 
me something strange and unreal. As upon the sea, 
there was no longer a consciousness of locality ; when 
the green disappears, like the land, there is nothing 
fixed until it rises again. 

The illusion, however, was brief. We had not 
traversed more than half a dozen miles of desert be- 
fore we saw some men and donkeys, following a distant 
trail ; then, in the south, the blunt pyramid of Illa- 
hoon dipped above the horizon, and was followed, 
shortly afterwards, by the dark crumbled pyramid of 
Hawarah, lying some eight or ten miles further to the 
west. As I beheld them, during the brief time when 
they were both visible at once, I could not help musing 
a little upon the ages when they were the landmarks of 
two intensely jealous populations, and when the 
stretch of desert betwen them was frequently the 
field of bloody conflicts. Further to the right once 
stood the stately city of Crocodilopolis, where the 
crocodile was worshipped as a sacred animal; further 
to the left was Heracleopolis, the inhabitants whereof 
adored the ichneumon. Now, even as the latter ani- 
mal is the natural enemy of the crocodile, so the Her- 



78 EGYPT, 

acleopolitans became the enemies of the Crocodilopol- 
itans ; each party believed in, exalted, and defended 
the honor of its special beast. Many and sanguinary 
were the fights which arose from this cause ; but, let 
no one laugh at them, for several centuries to come ! 
Does not the old strife exist, under different symbols ? 
Have we not still our Ichneumonites and Crocodil- 
ians ? 

The two Pyramids, moreover, served to indicate the 
course of the immemorial canal which made the Fy- 
oom, as the Nile makes Egypt. The gap in the Lib- 
yan Hills, through which it is led, must be consider- 
ably below the desert plateau, for not even the topmost 
fringes of its bordering trees were visible. When I 
turned away from the southern window of the car, at 
last, and looked through the northern, I was startled 
by a broad, airy gleam of green and purple, melting 
into the sky along a far-away horizon. There lay the 
Fyoom ! The miles on miles of wheat and cotton 
fields, striped with long palm-groves, slowly sinking 
towards an unseen lake, beyond which floated the out- 
line of barren, rosy-tinted mountains, resembled the 
Nile valley, it is true, but they were bathed in another 
atmosphere. There was something of the same 
change which one notices on crossing the channel be- 
tween England and France : neither earth nor sky 
seems exactly the same. 

An intermediate belt of grass-tufts, bushes, and 
stunted trees divides the desert from the harvest-land, 
and the little station of El Edwa, where the train 
halted for a few minutes, was like none of those on the 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. 79 

Nile railway. A few dark-skinned Bedouins stood at 
a respectful distance ; the children on hand neither 
offered water and beans nor asked for backsheesh ; and 
the drifted sands made a loneliness about the place, as 
if it were some old caravan-well, not yet accustomed 
to the new animal which now snorted for his drink. 
A little further we crossed a ravine which seemed nat- 
ural, but may have belonged to the earlier and more 
perfect system of canals. There is at least evidence 
that a higher upland than is at present reached by 
irrigation, was fertile in the ancient days. 

From El Edwa, it is but five miles to the capital, 
Medeeneh, — or, to give its full and stately title, — 
Medeenet-el'Fares, ''The City of the Knight." 
This is later Arabic : the old city was first Croc- 
odilopolis, and afterwards Arsinoe. The name of 
the province, Fyoom^ is the old Egyptian ''Pi-om,'' 
meaning ''the sea," so called either from the natu- 
ral lake which still exists, or the artificial lake made 
by Amenemha III., of the Twelfth Dynasty (3000 
B. C), to which -the Greeks gave the name of Lake 
Mceris. The great canal which supplies the whole 
region with water is now called BaJir- Yoiissitf (Jo- 
seph's River), from a tradition, as old as the time of 
Josephus, that the Hebrew Joseph ordered its con- 
struction. In reality, it is nearly a thousand years 
older than his day ; yet, as there are few so ancient 
and persistent traditions without some basis of fact, 
it is quite possible that Joseph may have superintend- 
ed its repair or enlargement. Mariette's discovery, 
that the Hyksos (Shepherd) Kings of Egypt ruled 



8o EGYPT. 

also over the Fyoom, combined with the indirect evi- 
dence that Joseph hved in Egypt under their dynasty, 
certainly favors this assumption. 

For the remaining five miles the track was nearly a 
level : cultivated fields on both sides, gardens, villages, 
and a brilliant sunset illumination made the approach 
to our destination very promising. Finally, we saw 
minarets ahead, the luxurious villa of a rich official, 
masts and sails between the acacias, and then the 
train very slowly came to a stop on the rails. There 
was no sign of a station, but Hassan came to the door 
and said: *^Here we get out. Master ! '^ A sudden 
doubt as to our fortune for the night entered my soul : 
but my companions, new to the Orient, took up the 
march with as cheerful a faith as if there was a Fifth 
Avenue Hotel in Medeeneh. The first steps, in fact, 
were alike surprising and charming. We stood upon 
the banks of what seemed a natural river, winding 
at its will under overhanging palms and acacias, 
bearing laden barges, and washing the walls of the 
town with slowly- moving yet strong, deep, and clear 
waters. There was no gateway, but an arch of trees, 
in front, where gossips sat with their pipes and cof- 
fee, and enjoyed the increasing cool of the evening. 
It was evidently the main entrance to the town ; for 
the comers and goers were numerous enough to keep 
the air full of dust which was vapory gold to look at, 
and as bad as Scotch snuff to inhale. 

Piloted by Hassan, we plunged into the long, wind- 
ing, shaded street of bazars, where it was not yet so 
dusky but that we could perceive the surprise of the 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM, 8i 

merchants at the appearance of Franks. The day's 
business was over: they had leisure for curiosity, and 
were passively grateful for a chance to indulge it. 
Halting, finally, at a Greek cafe, the windows of which 
made a goodly show of prohibited liquors, we solicited 
lodging for the night; but the proprietor, after a rapid 
glance at our persons, quickly, but very firmly de- 
clined. "" Is there no khan ? " I asked. Yes, there was 
a native khan in the neighborhood, the only place in 
the town where strangers could be entertained. We 
set off again, with a string of inquisitive idlers follow- 
ing us, and presently reached a dingy portal which 
gave access to a court so narrow and gloomy that it 
rather seemed to be a blind alley. The courteous pro- 
prietor, however^ had very primitive ideas of comfort. 
He took us up a crumbling stairway, along a terrace 
where the dust of ages had never been disturbed, and 
then, with an air of triumph, opened the door of a 
dismal cell, littered with straw, feathers and filth, — 
only vile walls and viler floor — and said : ^* Your lord- 
ships can sleep here ! " 

Having often lodged in worse places, I was not 
greatly disconcerted ; but the faces of my companions 
expressed sudden despair. They set out with Hassan 
to make another desperate search for quarters, while 
I went below and ordered coffee and a n^rghileh. 
One inquisitive native after another dropped in, and 
formed a circle around me ; none but courteous ques- 
tions were asked; yet there was a general attitude 
of expectancy which the amateur Oiiental compre- 
hends at once. I therefore gave them as much infor- 



82 EGYPT. 

mation as I thought was necessary, and we got on 
very well together. 

It was more than half an hour before Hassan and 
my companions returned. This time, their counte- 
nances were white: with them came a young Copt, 
who was introduced as Tadrus, teacher of the Ameri- 
can Mission School, and custodian of a civilized cham- 
ber where Mr. Harvey, the missionary, lodged when 
he visited Medeeneh. Since we were the latter's 
countrymen, Tadrus offered us the room, and led the 
way to a remote quarter of the town, while Hassan 
went to order dinner of a native cook. The entrance, 
through stables and dark passages, was not promising, 
but after mounting to an upper terrace, we found a 
clean, spacious room, with a broad bed, a divan, 
tables, and chairs, cheerfully illuminated by a kero- 
sene lamp. Tadrus entertained us with an account 
of the school, and introduced two of his Coptic friends 
in the course of the evening ; the Moslem dinner, 
when it came, was excellent; Moses, the servant of 
Tadrus, fetched from a cafe a bottle of strongly resin- 
ous yet classic Chian wine ; so that when we all — born 
Christian, converted Christian, Copt, and Mohamme- 
dan — lighted the permitted pipe together, the City of 
the Knight lost its inhospitality and there was peace 
and comfort under the splendid Egyptian moon. 

At sunrise, three donkeys and a mule came to the 
door : Hassan had engaged them, collectively, for the 
day, together with the services of two men, for six 
francs ! But the furniture belonging to the animals 
was of the kind which satisfies the native Fellah, — a 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM, 83 

single piece of rope instead of a bridle, a bit of bag- 
ging for a saddle, and no stirrups. The latter defect 
was remedied, in my case, by a doubled rope, laid 
across the mule's back, into the loops of which my 
feet were thrust. It answered very, well, unless, for- 
getting its unattached, sliding character, I happened 
to bear more heavily upon one foot: then, the other 
foot was drawn up suddenly, and I risked losing my 
balance. 

On issuing from the town we crossed the main 
canal, and found ourselves at once within the mounds 
of the ancient Crocodilopolis, — brown, shapeless heaps, 
filled with potsherds, and possibly concealing many 
historic treasures in their unexplored depths. But 
what a day ! — feathery clouds, tinted like ashes-of- 
roses, floating in a pale blue sky, a sun that warmed 
without burning, and a cool north-wind, saturated 
with the odor of clover and bean-blossoms ! All that 
is happiest in brain and blood rose to the surface of 
life, and took possession of the hour. The owner of 
the beasts rode with us to the end of the ruins, beg- 
ging to be paid in advance, but I refused so kindly and 
cheerfully that he finally turned homeward, apparently 
quite content. 

The way was a field-path, constantly interrupted by 
ditches for irrigation and the gullies left from old ca- 
nals. Yet it was another region than the Nile valley. 
In front of us, to the northward, we saw the rosy tops 
of the hills beyond the lake ; on all other sides the 
green tields stretched away until they made their own 
horizon ; and the first canal, or arm of Joseph's river, 



84 EGYPT. 

when we reached it, was no sluggish, muddy stream, 
lagging along between regularly-cut banks, but a 
clear, natural brook, shooting to the right or left in 
search of hollows, bordered with reeds and wild willow- 
bushes, and murmuring with a most distinct and 
delightful sound. Most of the Fellahs in the fields 
were too busy to greet, or even to take note of us, and 
those we met in the path returned a hearty '' Alei- 
kooin-salaain ! " which is often withheld from the un- 
believer, in Egypt. A few miles from Medeeneh we 
saw an unexpected apparition, — a Frank lady on horse- 
back ; and, when I lifted my turban from force of 
habit, she saluted me with a hearty '"' Good morn- 
ing!" 

Although we were traversing the upper or higher 
plateau of the Fyoom, the vegetation did not seem to 
be artificially called forth. Where there was no irri- 
gation, bushes or clumps of grass bordered the path, 
and a turf which the Khedive cannot create for his 
parks at Cairo, made a soft carpet under the palm- 
groves. At the first large village, Biahmoo by name, 
I inquired for beioot kadeein — ^* old houses," — which 
is the conventional term for ruins among the Fellahs. 
The people pointed to two piles of masonry near at 
hand, and we rode thither as a matter of duty, know- 
ing that the Egyptian monuments in the Fyoom are 
few and unsatisfactory. I confess, however, that the 
rude, unsculptured piles we found at Biahmoo, pro- 
voked a keen curiosity. They are quite unlike any- 
thing else in Egypt. Two quadrangles, about two 
hundred feet apart, stand nearly on a due north and 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM, 85 

south line: they are a hundred by a hundred and fifty 
feet in dimensions, each having a square mass of ma- 
sonry in the centre, and the remains of a pyramid at 
the south-eastern angle. The steep slope of the latter, 
67°, is cut from the layers of stone, not filled in from 
the regular courses, as in the case of all other Egyp- 
tian pyramids. To me this seemed to be the earliest 
form of pyramidal architecture, especially since it is in 
the neighborhood of the False Pyramid, which is cer- 
tainly the oldest in the Nile valley. Who shall say 
how long the huge, roughly-dressed stones have been 
resting one upon the other? Since Mariette, after a 
rich experience of twenty-five years, still hopes to find 
a statue or other record of Menes, the first historical 
king of Egypt, at Abydos, the lay explorer has a claim 
to indulge his fancies. 

Beyond Biahmoo, the land increased in richness 
and beauty. We were approaching the edge of the 
first plateau, and the winding canals fell into shallow 
glens, plunging over weirs in little waterfalls, or fairly 
hiding from view under masses of shrubbery. I hardly 
like to call them *^ canals," for the habit of thousands 
of years gives them the charm and dignity of natural 
streams. The pictures they make are quite fresh, 
even to one who knows the rest of Egypt thoroughly. 
Here you see a cottage on a high bank, willow-shaded, 
such as would have captivated the pensive soul of 
Rogers, but beyond the sparkling water, palm-trees 
stand in a bed of the richest clover. The borders are 
natural turf; wild-flowers blossom in masses, and even 
the highest swells of the soil on either hand are no 



86 EGYPT, 

dryer than our grain-fields at home, in August One 
cannot say that the landscapes of the Nile are pas- 
toral, for the cultivator's art is everywhere too evident ; 
but here the scenery was really so, although its charm 
depended on differences so slight that they will hardly 
bear description. 

We had travelled ten miles or more, when one of 
the donkey-drivers pointed out Senoris, a long, brown 
village, embowered in palms, and lifted, like all 
Egyptian villages, on the ruins of ages of decayed or 
destroyed towns. Here dwelt Mr. Harvey, the Amer- 
ican missionary, who for seven years past has been 
buried in the depths of the Fyoom, hated by the 
Copts whom he faithfully endeavors to convert, and 
tolerated, in no unfriendly wise, by the Mussulmen. 
We only needed to ask for *' the school," and were at 
once guided to his quarters. The sound of juvenile 
voices, each learning its lesson in a loud sing-song, 
met us half-way ; but our arrival produced a sudden 
silence, for the hospitable missionary could not receive 
the first countryman who had ever visited him, with- 
out giving a holiday. His wife, on her way to Me- 
deeneh for the mail, was the Frank lady whom we 
had met, but Tadrus had already intrusted the mail 
to our hands. A native servant, deaf and dumb, en- 
tered and shook hands, with inarticulate sounds 
which expressed both welcome and respect; then 
Miss Thompson, who teaches the girls of Senoris, 
helps the oppressed women of the place to their 
rights, and turns domestic quarrels into peace, sum- 
moned us to a Christian breakfast. I think we should 



A TRIP 70 THE FYOOM. 87 

have fared hardly in the Fyoom had it not been for 
the American Mission. 

I asked Mr. Harvey whether he did not find the 
Mohammedans more tolerant than the Copts, in re- 
ligious discussion, and he frankly answered, ''Yes; 
it often happens that when the Copts assail me, the 
Mohammedans partly range themselves on my side." 
This is simply the consequence of a more active re- 
ligious intelligence, for Islam is nowhere such a 
mechanical dependence on forms as one finds in 
Oriental Christianity ; the congregation worships, 
rather than the priest. A few converts are made 
among the Copts, it is true; but the chief and perma- 
nent value of these missions lies in the education 
which they give to the young. The example of an up- 
right Christian life, also, is of great service, where it 
can be continued by a succession of missionaries who 
have close and sympathetic relations with the people ; 
but- no deep impressions can be produced until there 
is a depth prepared to receive them. 

There is something touching about the adult native 
converts connected with all foreign missions where 
they are not yet numerous enough to form a commu- 
nity by themselves. If not social outcasts among 
their own people, they are regarded with the same in- 
stinctive dislike as an abolitionist formerly in Virginia, 
or a Unitarian in Scotland. They look depressed, 
uneasy, like men who expected to be assailed and are 
not strong enough to become assailants in turn. In 
most cases, they cut themselves off from all ordinary 
paths of success in life, such as their brethren follow, 



88 EGYPT. 

and become appendages of the charity which has 
sent them a better faith. If two or three generations 
of intelligent and self-reliant ancestors lay behind 
them, they might be able to defy and conquer the 
native prejudice; but they are generally pioneers 
without daring, reformers who only move as they are 
pushed. 

From the higher ground near Senoris, one getsthe 
first view of the eastern part of the lake. Here the 
second plateau of the Fyoom falls away, and the 
streams flow in actual valleys which must have been 
original depressions of the soil. The Birket el-Korn 
(Lake of the Horn), as it is now called on account of 
its curved form and pointed ends, was not the ancient 
Lake Mceris. The site of the latter has been defi- 
nitely fixed by the researches of M. Linant, its nearly 
obliterated outline corresponding with the descriptions 
given by Herodotus and Strabo. It was an immense 
artificial lake with shores of masonry and dyked earth, 
occupying the southeastern part of the higher plateau 
of the Fyoom. The village of Biahmoo stands at its 
northwestern corner. Its circumference was nearly 
thirty miles, whence it was fully able to store up water 
from the fat years of inundation for any lean years 
that might follow, the overplus being easily discharged 
into the Lake of the Horn, the level of which is con- 
siderably below that of the Nile. No wonder that 
Herodotus pronounced this lake one of the most mar- 
vellous things he saw in Egypt ! 

King Amenemha III. -of the Twelfth Dynasty ap- 
pears, from the inscriptions belonging to his reign, 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. 89 

to have been the creator of Lake Moeris. This would 
fix the date of its construction at about 3000 B. c, 
several centuries before Abraham's visit to Egypt. 
Let us no longer marvel at the Roman aqueducts or 
boast about the Croton or Cochituate, or even the 
Chicago Tunnel ! Not one engineering exploit since 
the days of King Amenemha has equalled his, in dar- 
ing and grandeur ; and the evidence of successful con- 
struction is furnished by the fact that it was still per- 
fect two thousand five hundred years after its comple- 
tion. 

We left Senoris at noon, taking a westward course 
along the edge of the plateau, parallel to the lake 
shore. Mr. Harvey ordered his donkey, and accom- 
panied us, and his thorough knowledge of the lan- 
guage and habits of the people made the companion- 
ship doubly valuable. I could not shake off the im- 
pression that I was somewhere in Central Africa, in- 
stead of within such easy reach of Cairo : only out of 
Ethiopia could I call similar landscapes to mind. The 
hollows were deep in lush vegetation ; the dry ridges 
were clothed with thickets of euphorbia; besides 
palms, acacias, and sont trees, the cactus rose with a 
huge trunk and spreading arms, and along the clear, 
rapid streams there were generally more reeds and 
rushes than one finds on the borders of the Nile. One 
valley which we crossed was surprisingly picturesque. 
Its broad, winding bed lay a hundred feet below the 
level of the plateau. Half-way down there was a 
sheikh's tomb, beside a grove of immense tamarisk- 
trees ; after crossing the water the path climbed along 



QO EGYPT. 

the edge of clay bluffs and gained a height whence the 
green plain to the north and the glimmer of the lake 
became visible. 

We met two Fellahs of the better class, riding upon 
donkeys, and one of them cried out as he approached: 
**0 stranger, help us if you can! — say something to 
the rulers that will persuade them to relieve us from 
oppression ! " The man spoke in good faith, — partly, 
no doubt, from a natural belief among the people that 
the Khedive is more susceptible to foreign than to 
native influences. Oppressive taxation, with lack of 
order and justice, certainly exist ; but nothing could 
have so illustrated the conscious helplessness of the 
people as such an appeal to an unknown Frank. Alas, 
for the Orientals ! They get but scanty justice, I fear, 
even from us : we praise the rulers who keep them 
abject and ignorant, and then revile the people be- 
cause they are not manly and intelligent. 

We rode onward between orchards of the fruit-bear- 
ing cactus, which also serve as supports for magnifi- 
cent grape-vines. Nowhere in Egypt do the grape 
and the olive flourish as in theFyoom: the markets 
of Cairo, in the season, are supplied from here. 
There was a quaint village perched on a rise, with a 
bright pond of water, on which wild-ducks were 
swimming, in the hollow below. Some venerable 
fathers and mothers of the hamlet, half-dozing in the 
shade, woke up and greeted us quite cordially. My 
friends tried their pistols on the ducks, without suc- 
cess, unless the amusement of the wild brown chil- 
dren micrhtbe considered such. Not one of the latter 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. gi 

begged of us: in fact, the word *^ backsheesh ! " is 
unused throughout the whole of the Fyoom. 

As we drew westward, the palm-groves increased 
in frequency and stately height; and they, with the 
cactus-vineyards between, made the path a shady 
lane, delightful to traverse. In two hours, or more, 
after leaving Senoris, we reached the curious village 
of Fiddimeen, which is built along the opposite banks 
of a deep glen, one side being Coptic and the other 
Moslem. From the edge of the stream to the sum- 
mits of the high, sinuous ridges on either side, palm- 
trees grow like a natural forest. As I looked down, 
over the masses of mud towers, bastions, and flat 
domes, the groups of people passing to and fro be- 
side the water, and all the minor features of the fan- 
tastic place, I felt inclined to ask: ^^ How much fur- 
ther is it to Timbuktoo ? " 

We did not enter the town, but turned off to the 
right between walled gardens, and presently issued 
upon a broad, breezy hill, sandy in patches, but still 
bearing fair fields of grain. The glen of Fiddimeen 
lay on our left, showing the vivid gloss of orange and 
lemon orchards under the crowns of its thousands of 
palms. Then, slowly, all the lower land between us 
and the lake came into view, the long blue sheet of 
the lake itself, and the rosy slopes of the bare moun- 
tains beyond it. On on^side, many a square league 
of glorious harvest 'lanc^^ on the other, everlasting 
barrenness, yet life could have no lovelier frame. 
The Birket el-Korn, is thirty-five miles in length, and 
seven in its greatest breadth ; so that our view, em- 



92 EGYPT. 

bracing nearly its whole extent, was as broad as that 
from the Great Pyramid, and much more beautiful. 

The village of Senhoor, our destination, was seated 
on a projecting spur of the plateau, still separated 
from us by the glen of Fiddimeen. Descending into 
the latter, we found it spanned by a lofty dam of ma- 
sory which had given way in the centre, the ruins 
meeting in a tottering bridge, over which we rode. 
This was Moslem (it might have been American !) en- 
gineering : King Amenemha would have cut off the 
builder's head. All the bottom of the valley, al- 
though bare of turf, was delightfully shaded with large 
trees, and as we wound through them towards Sen- 
hoor, two Frank ladies advanced to meet us. It was 
the missionary's wife, who had returned from Medee- 
neh soon after we left Senoris, and then, taking Miss 
Thompson and a palm-basket of provisions with her, 
had preceded us by a shorter road. Thirty miles on 
horseback already, and the prospect of ten or fifteen 
more, could not take away an atom from her cordial 
welcome. We re-formed in a new and much more 
picturesque procession, and created quite a stir of 
excitement as we entered the village. 

Senhoor is raised upon such lofty piles of ruin that 
there must have been a town there, at least five thou- 
sand years ago. A part of it is again falling into de- 
cay: we passed through streets where there were 
empty, roofless walls on one side, and swarming hab- 
itations on the other. In Egypt, one might almost 
say, there is a mud-iiut barometer, building up in 
prosperity, and letting fzdl in a season of want. The 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. 93 

more frequent these fluctuations, the more rapidly the 
basis, or pedestal, of the village is elevated ; and va- 
riations from the general average would indicate the 
particular fortune of each locality. This is a hint 
which I offer to the archasologists. At Senhoor, I feel 
convinced, a tunnel cut through the lowest stratum 
might well repay the expense. After Medeeneh, it is 
perhaps the most central and commanding position 
in the Fyoom ; and the obelisk of Osirtasen I. (first 
king of the Twelfth Dynasty), no less than the enor- 
mous undertaking of Lake Mceris, show that the 
province must have been inhabited long before that 
date. 

At the very end of the town we came upon mounds of 
debris loftier than any house in it, and climbed to the 
summit to enjoy the far, sunny prospects. Below, at 
the foot of the mound, stood the dismantled gateway 
of some old Saracenic palace, rich with carvings and 
horse-shoe arches ; away to the west rose the tall, 
smoking chimney of the Khedive's sugar refinery at 
Nezleh. It was a confusing jumble of old history and 
modern science ; but the perfect day united all con- 
tradictions in one harmonious blending of form and 
color. After all, there is a great deal of humbug in 
the assumption that old historic associations are dis- 
turbed, or put to flight, by the intrusion of modern 
(and hence, of course^ prosaic) features, in a land- 
scape. I rather fancy, that the mind which cannot 
retain such associations in the presence of steam-en- 
gines and stove-pipe hats, is but weakly receptive of 
them. To be consistent, the sentimental tourist 



94 EGYPT. 

should only appear in toga and sandals, and cry out 
" at /'' ox '' eheul '' instead of "alas/'' and "ah, 
woe/'' Pray understand me; the sentiment is natu- 
ral and manly, and I do not respect the man who dis- 
claims it; but, if it be genuine, it will not be neutral- 
ized by the inevitable, the beneficent changes of time. 
The Senhoorites gathered gradually and formed a 
wide, irregular ring about the foot of the mound, 
while we delayed upon the breezy summit. When we 
finally descended to where our animals were waiting 
in the shade of a mud wall, a tall, dignified native, in a 
white turban and blue caftan, came and saluted me, 
when he presently asked: ^' Will you go to your 
house?" I had quite forgotten the old, once-familiar 
form of Oriental courtesy, and gave a literal answer; 
but Mr. Harvey quietly suggested the true meaning, 
which was, ** Will you come to my house?" The 
native gentleman insisted, furthermore, that we should 
all pass the night under his roof; and his invitation 
was so warm and persistent that it was rather an em- 
barrassment to decline. Then we must accept a din- 
ner — at least a sc/iownneh, or sheep roasted w^hole ; 
but we finally compromised, with some little difficulty, 
on coffee. He led the way, and we followed, with the 
usual procession of idlers behind us. Down to the 
edge of the lower plain, over capes and promontories 
of rubbish, through gardens and orchards went the 
way, until, on the eastern side of the town, we found 
an open space, walled on two sides, and with a line 
sculptured portal of stone leading to an inner court- 
yard. 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM, 95 

Our host called himself the sS-//^//^/^ el-belled^ or vil- 
lage magistrate, and a younger'man, pale and sombre 
efface, whom I took to be his brother, kept always 
at his side. On either side of the portal were wicker 
boxes, which might serve either as chicken-coops or 
sofas, and upon these we took our seats. The ladies 
boldly entered the inner court — a privilege which we 
could not help but envy, — and made their way to the 
magistrate's harem. Coffee was served, I gave cigars 
to the magistrate and his supposed brother, and there 
was some conversation — 

'* But over all there hung a shade of fear ; 
A sense of mystery the spirit daunted." 

The ladies came back, omitting nothing in phrase or 
manner demanded by Moslem courtesy ; the invita- 
tion was renewed, yet with an earnestness which, 
somehow, made me anxious to escape it ; coffee was 
served a second time, and after profuse and hollow 
compliments we took our leave. 

Half an hour afterwards, riding up the glen of Fid- 
dimeen, our native attendants explained the apparent 
mystery. The real magistrate of Senhoor was not the 
man who had represented himself to us as such, but 
the pale, sombre-faced young man who sat beside him. 
A year ago, the father of the latter, riding up the 
glen on his way to Medeeneh, to attend certain fes- 
tivities of the Khedive at Cairo, was shot by an am- 
bushed assassin. Suspicion fell upon a neighboring 
magistrate, an enemy of the family, but all direct 
evidence of guilt was wanting. Nevertheless, a month 



96 EGYPT. 

or two later, the suspected man was murdered in turn, 
and this time there was some indirect evidence which 
pointed towards the son of the first victim, the pale 
young man we had seen. He was arrested and im- 
prisoned ; then, after a preliminary examination, re- 
leased on bail, and was now awaiting his trial. For 
this reason, he had felt a delicacy about inviting us 
personally, and therefore commissioned a friend (not 
a brother) to assume the title of magistrate and enter- 
tain us in his stead ! 

It was a curious story and suggested a number of 
morals, which I will not declare, since they must be 
evident to every thinking reader. The acceptance of 
the hospitality would have been an uncanny experi- 
ence ; yet the ghost of the crime already sat over the 
hospitable portal, and prevented our entering. The 
people who followed us talked very freely about the 
matter : they were not particularly shocked, although 
they seemed to regret that the ways were not so secure 
as under the regime of Said Pasha. But the picture 
of that pale, sombre young man, sitting beside the 
stately portal of his own house and permitting another 
to play the part of its master, haunted me for a long 
time. 

Long before the tale was finished we had entered 
the deep, winding valley of Fiddimeen, which we fol- 
lowed up to its divided, double-religioned town. Any 
valley — except it be a cloven gorge of the desert hiUs 
— is a phenomenon in Egypt. But here we followdd 
the course of leaping, plashing waters, and the hills on 
either side were dark with rustling palm-trees, and by 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. ' 97 

and by the orange gardens and vineyards swept down 
from the heights, bringing odor, color and shade in 
one superb flood. Perhaps I seem to make too much 
of so simple a feature ; but whatever violates the broad, 
natural conditions of a country, always surprises and 
charms. Moreover, the Fyoom is so accessible, yet 
so unknown ! 

The town of Fiddimeen is even more picturesque 
seen from below than from above. There was a sort 
of market or exchange of commodities, on the Moslem 
side, over a bare slope below the houses ; the Copts 
came over and mingled peacefully with their neigh- 
bors, and we, fraternizing with neither (except in a 
purely human sense), received greetings whicli were 
entirely friendly. Mr. Harvey led the way to the top 
of the ridge, and there took temporary possession of a 
Moslem cactus-orchard, which gave at least dabs or 
shovelfuls of shade from its spatulate leaves ; the 
owner's wife brought us water-bottles, and the owner 
himself kept away the curious children. It was a pic- 
turesque lunch in every sense : three anointed and 
three lay Christians, one devout and several indiffer- 
ent Musselmen, a Copt or two, and overhead a peace 
and glory in the sky which seemed to smile at mere 
symbolism, and to acknowledge the native instinct of 
prayer, worship and faith, in each. The noises of the 
village were unheard ; the birds sang around us, and 
the natives kept politely out of sight until we had fin- 
ished the excellent cold fowls and nutritious Fyoom 
bread which our hosts— for so they still were — had 
brought from Senoris. 



98 EGYPT. 

It was harder to resist a pressing invitation to return 
with the latter ; but we were obliged to decline, for 
the sake of seeing another part of the Fyoom, and in- 
specting, if possible, an obelisk of Osirtasen I., before 
returning to Cairo. By this time it was four o'clock 
in the afternoon, and the two hours of daylight which 
remained would barely suffice for our return and that 
of our friends to their home at Senoris. So the ani- 
mals were collected, cordial adieus were said, and our 
temporary caravan divided into two equal parts on the 
western brink of the valley of Fiddimeen, they cross- 
ing to the road by which we had come, and we turning 
away to the right, over the upland. The two patient 
and cheerful attendants from Medeeneh ran with us 
encouraging the weary mule and asses ; the day was 
still bright and mellow, and, although I knew that our 
ride of thirty- five miles through the heart of the Fy- 
oom had enabled us to overlook and comprehend 
the character of the region we had not traversed, I 
sincerely regretted that I had not brought a tent and 
a week's supplies, so as to have deliberately studied the 
land and its people. The circumstance that all my 
forgotten knowledge of Arabic — unused for twenty- 
two years — had returned, and restored, as by a sort of 
human magic, every broken link of sympathy with the 
people, made more evident how much I was losing by 
such a hasty visit. But man may be man, yet not 
fully '^ master of his fate." 

We returned through a lovely country ; yet, on 
leaving the edge of the plateau which slopes suddenly 
down to the plains bordering the Lake of the Horn — 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. gq 

following the streams up valleys of diminishing depth, 
and gaining a more uniform, if richer, level of cultiva- 
tion — the former surprises ceased. I am afraid I paid 
more attention to my shifting stirrups and the pre- 
monitions of coming aches than to the promise of the 
rustling grain-fields. The present dimensions of the 
cultivated part of the Fyoom are about thirty by twen- 
ty-five miles, with a population of one hundred and 
fifty thousand. In the old days of Egypt it was con- 
siderably larger ; for at the western extremity of the 
lake, where now all is sand and gravel, there are still 
important ruins of Egyptian and Roman temples, with 
the traces of fields and canals. From the highest 
ridges I saw no sign of mountains to the westward ; 
and here, as wherever water is carried, the earth will 
produce whatever is needed, the limits of the habita- 
ble region may undoubtedly be extended much further 
in that direction. The supply of \vater has recently 
been increased by feeding the Bahr-Youssef with a 
branch canal which leaves the Nile somewhere near 
Siout ; but one result thereof, I was told, is a rise in 
the surface of the lake and the flooding of lowlands 
heretofore cultivated. King Amenemha avoided this, 
when he made Lake Moeris, and there seems to be no 
remedy but in a reservoir which shall hoard the over- 
supply. 

We passed several villages on the way ; the path 
was lively with groups of people, coming and going as 
the sun drew near his setting. The approach to 
Medeeneh, along the banks of the main canal, was 
unexpectedly imposing: it might have been Bagdad 



lOo EGYPT. 

and a branch of the Tigris. But I was too weary, by 
this time, to feel more than the mechanical satisfac- 
tion of the eye. On approaching the gate of the city, 
we despatched Hassan to his Moslem friend, the cook, 
with an order for fried fish from the lake, and followed 
the irregular outer wall southward and eastward along 
the edge of a wide pool which reflected the sunset, 
until the grooms advised me that we were near the 
school of Tadrus. 

I made my way to the upper terrace, thinking to 
surprise that *^ mild-eyed, melancholy" custodian; 
but it was myself who was surprised. The kerosene 
lamp was lighted in the room we had occupied ; at 
the table, engaged in counting a pile of copper coins, 
sat a handsome, fair-faced, and dark-eyed Coptic 
lady. Seeing me, she rose, greeted me in a musical 
voice, came forward with an easy grace, took my 
hand, and kissed it before I could reverse the compli- 
ment. '* I am Mariam," she said, in Arabic; **I 
teach the girls here, but would not have kept the 
apartment so long, had I not supposed that you would 
stay at Senoris." She despatched Moses in search of 
Tadrus, and left when the latter arrived: yet I should 
have preferred to continue a conversation carried on 
with so much frankness and cheerfulness, on her side. 
Tadrus half sighed as he said that probably no one 
would ever seek her in marriage, the prejudice against 
converts to Protestantism being so great among the 
Copts. Nevertheless, she s.eemed to be a thoroughly 
bright and happy nature. Two young Coptic gentle- 
men (not converts) visited us during the evening. 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. loi 

They had been partly educated at the Mission School, 
and were not a little proud of their smattering of 
English. Such as these must in time break down the 
prejudices of the sect. 

After the long day's journey, the Fellah saddle and 
the sliding stirrups, I found the divan cushioned with 
aches, and arose in the morning with such a feeling 
of decrepitude that my first thought was to discover 
a sufficient reason for not visiting the obelisk of Osir- 
tasen I., two or three miles to the southward of the 
town. Tadrus soon furnished one. The obelisk, he 
said, lay prostrate in the midst of a cultivated field ; 
it was wholly covered with earth, except a space of a 
yard or so in the centre, where some hieroglyphics — 
the king's name, he supposed — were visible. Now, as 
I had already seen the nomen of Osirtasen I. on the 
obelisk of Heliopolis, there was no necessity for taking 
taking such pains to behold that again — and nothing 
more. As for the famous Labyrinth, the site whereof 
is marked by the brick pyramid of Haw^arah, abso- 
lutely nothing is left. The believers in the Ichneumon 
appear to have cut it up, root and branch. In fact, 
the probable area can only be guessed from greater 
ridges of broken granite and limestone fragments. It 
is difficult to understand the astonishment of Herod- 
otus at its magnitude, and his statement of its three 
thousand chambers seems (in spite of his honesty as a 
narrator) to be hugely exaggerated. But the Croco- 
dile was thoroughly suppressed, and to this day the 
sacred reptile never shows himself in the Fyoom. 

It was such a dazzling morning — everything that we 



I02 EGYPT, 

saw from the roofs or the streets, or the winding banks 
of Joseph's River, was so sunny and beautiful that I 
was tempted to ^'invite my soul" to lounge there for 
the day. My companions, however, were too young 
and too American for such an experiment ; and, be- 
sides, the idleness of a railway-car, with its flying pan- 
oramas, was nearly as good an indulgence. Tadrus 
and his Coptic friends accompanied us to the track 
outside the town, and waited patiently until the loco- 
motive made up its mind to start. There was no ap- 
pointed time of departure, in fact ; nor was it neces- 
sary, since we had an indefinite margin of from two to 
four hours at El Wasta. I could not understand why 
I should pay more for a ticket to return than for one 
to come ; but, since the ticket-seller said : '' I am en- 
titled to something more, and you see it is not a great 
deal," I suppose it was right. 

On approaching the ravine along the eastern edge 
of the Fyoom, I looked for signs of an ancient Egyp- 
tian dyke, which Mr. Harvey informed me were visible 
if one knew where to look for them, but cannot be sure 
that I really saw them. That the ravine was thus 
dyked, however, is almost certain, if, indeed, it was not 
originally an artificial canal connected with Lake 
Moeris. At El Edwa there was a small fair, or market- 
day, and many dark Bedouins who camp on the bar- 
ren outskirts of the province, had come together with 
their sheep and camels. They gazed upon us with 
stony, silent curiosity, while the train halted; the 
boys gathered nearer, but started back, in real or 
feigned alarm, whenever one of us made a movement. 



A TRIP TO THE FYOOM. 103 

Their eyes were as the eyes of doves by the rivers of 
waters, washed with milk ; and their teeth like flocks 
of lambs that are even shorn, which come up from 
the washing. 

We had another inspiring ride across the isthmus 
of desert ; blue lakes of the mirage glittered in the 
hollows, the pure north-wind made the sand dance 
and vibrate along the crests of the ridges, and my 
eyes so adjusted themselves to the direct and reflected 
sunshine that the first glimpse of the deep Nile-green, 
through a gap in the hills, was like the loom of a 
thunder-cloud. The cry of ^* backsheesh ! " which 
we had not once heard since leaving El Wasta, was 
waiting for our return, and for six hours (so long de- 
layed, the one daily train from above!) the ravenous 
imps tormented us. The last gleam of sunset struck 
the topmost wedge of the False Pyramid as we moved 
off for Cairo, and it was nearly midnight under the 
cold, cold moon, when the train reached the station 
of Boolak-Dakrour. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES AT BOOLAK. 

Cairo, April 3. 
TN the beginning of November, 1851, as I was slowly 
-*■ plodding along on a donkey, over the sandy spurs 
of the Desert between the Pyramids and Sakkara, the 
Fellahs who accompanied me had much to say of a 
strange Frank, who had hired people to dig holes in 
the earth in the hope of finding golden chickens. I 
paid no great attention to these stories until, on reach- 
ing the sandy plateau behind the village of Mitrahenny 
(the site of ancient Memphis), I saw a number of Arabs 
carrying sand in baskets, and my donkey-drivers cried 
out, '* There is the Frank ! " On the brink of the 
excavation, overlooking the workmen, stood a man of 
twenty-eight to thirty years of age, tall, blond, terri- 
bly sunburnt, and apparently worn with exposure and 
the endless annoyances of his task. I approached 
him, and entered into conversation. He was French, 
and seemed a little reserved in his manner, until the 
accidental mention of my being an American and not 
an Englishman restored his confidence and communi- 
cativeness. We descended the excavation, walked two 
hundred yards in one of the exhumed streets of Mem- 
phis, and there I learned of the magnitude of the dis- 
coveries he had already made. Few men have ever 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES A T BOOLAK. 105 

given me such an impression of patient enthusiasm. 
At that time only a few scholars knew of his labors, 
and when he wrote in my note-book the name '' Au- 
guste Mariette " it was as new to me as to the world 
at large. 

Since then there has been no pause in M. Mari- 
ette's devotion to his self-imposed task. Pie was at 
first supported by contributions from France — very in- 
adequate and irregular, I suspect — and was obliged to 
work without the favor of the Egyptian Government, 
if not covertly opposed by the influence of England. 
European diplomacy in the East moves in ways that 
are dark and oftentimes contemp — (rather let me 
finish the word otherwise) — lative. During the reign 
of Abbas Pasha, M. Mariette worked steadily against 
discouragements : under Said Pasha there came a 
new if incomplete freedom; and finally the Khedive, 
Ismail Pasha, has turned the dauntless archaeologist 
into Mariette Bey, "Director of the Department for 
the Preservation of the Antiquities of Egypt," grant- 
ed him an annual sum for the prosecution of his re- 
searches, founded an Egyptian Museum at Boolak, 
and promises further support, which may be given in 
case no more viceregal marriages take place within 
the next few years. 

Knowing how ruthlessly Egypt has been plundered, 
since the days of Denon — what obelisks, statues and 
sarcophagi have been conveyed to London, Paris, and 
Berlin — how Belzoni, Lepsius, Abbott, and many 
others have rummaged temples, tombs, and pyramids 
for the sake of their pockets and button-holes, and. 



io6 EGYPT. 

moreover, how the rage of Winter tourists for relics 
has not only exhausted the legitimate supply of scara- 
boei, papyri, and pottery, but given rise to a manufac- 
ture of new articles of the sort, — I was prepared to 
find the Museum at Boolak only a depository of cast- 
away odds and ends, as confused and unsatisfactory 
as the collections you see in the Louvre or the British 
and Berlin Museums. These latter, every traveller 
knows, are not Egypt, any more than an old Roman 
brick is a part of the majesty of the Coliseum. But 
I never quite understood their lack of interest, even 
to one who has seen Denderah and Karnak, until the 
exact historical arrangement of Mariette^s collection 
had opened my eyes. 

Now — one can say without fear of contradiction — 
the most valuable Egyptian Museum in the world is 
in Cairo. That which was previously carried away 
being, for the most part, easily accessible, proves to 
belong to the later rather than the earlier dynasties. 
Unwearied digging has enabled Mariette to reach the 
records of the Ancient Empire, and to show — what we 
never before suspected — that the glory of Egyptian 
Art belongs to the age of Cheops, and only its deca- 
dence to the age of Rameses II. (Sesostris). No.t only 
the Art, but the Culture, the Religion, the political 
organization of Egypt are carried back to the Third 
Dynasty (4450 B.C.), and Menes, the first historic 
king, dawns upon our knowledge, not as a primitive 
barbarian, but as the result of a long stage of unre- 
corded development. I do not hesitate to say that 
since Champollion discovered the key to the hiero- 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES A T BOOIAK. 107 

glyphics, no scholar has thrown such a broad and clear 
light upon Egyptian life and history as Mariette. It 
is understood that the Museum at Boolak is only tem- 
porary. It hardly contains half of the inestimable col- 
lection, and some of the halls, undermined by the cur- 
rent of the Nile, have already been vacated, in order 
to preserve their contents. The Khedive promises a 
spacious and appropriate building, fronting on the 
great square of the Ezbekeeyeh, and he cannot have it 
erected too soon. It makes one shudder to think 
what irreplaceable wealth is accumulated between 
those low mud walls at Boolak, and how easily some 
accident might lose it to the world. 

There has been so much discussion in regard to the 
chronology of Ancient Egypt, that a few words on this 
point may be an advantage to the reader, in perusing 
the brief account which I must necessarily give of the 
more ancient monuments. Let me, therefore, repeat 
what many already know, and some may have forgot- 
ten, that our only former authority was Manetho, an 
Egyptian priest, who lived under the Ptolemies, Soter, 
and Philadelphus, in the beginning of the third cen- 
tury before Christ. He wrote, in Greek, a complete 
History of Egypt, compiled from the records preserved 
in the Temples of Memphis and Heliopolis. This 
work, which is quoted by Josephus, Eusebius, and 
other authors, is unfortunately lost, except a chrono- 
logical table of thirty dynasties, beginning with 
Menes, and terminating with the invasion of Egypt by 
the Persians. Manetho's table gives the names of the 
kings and the length of their reigns; and the sum 



loS EGYPT, 

total is so immense, carrying the duration of the Egyp- 
tian Empire to such a remote point in the past, that 
most scholars have shrunk from accepting it, prefer- 
ring to suppose that a number of the dynasties were 
cotemporaneous (that is, existing side by side in Up- 
per and Lower Egypt), and not successive. 

For the sake of convenience I will take Marictte's 
division of the dynasties into historic periods, together 
with the dates conjectu rally given for the commence- 
ment of each, by the older scholars, by Bunsen, and 
finally by Manetho and Mariette : 







Wilkinson, 










Dynasties. 


Poole, etc. 


Bunsen, 




3Tancf7io. 


Ancient Empire 


.. I. toX. 


2700 B. c. 


3623 B. 


c. 


5004 B. c. 


Middle Empire. 


/ XVIL ) 


- 2200 B. c. 


2925 B. 


c. 


3061 B. c. 


Later Empire... 


( XXXI. ) 


■ 1520 B. c. 


1625 B. 


c. 


1703 B. c. 


Greek Rule 


( XXXIII i 


• 332 B. c. 


332 B. 


c. 


332 B. c. 


Roman Rule 


...XXXIV. 


30 B. c. 


30 B. 


c. 


30 B. c. 



Edict of Theodosiiis, introducing Christianiiy, 3S1 a. d. 

It will be noticed that the discrepancy, which is less 
than two centuries, at the beginning of the Eight- 
eenth Dynasty (that of the Theban, Amosis, who 
expelled the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings), increases to 
two thousand three hundred years on reaching the 
first historical king, Alenes. But it is precisely upon 
this earlier period that Mariette's discoveries throw 
the most astonishing light. The names of the kings, 
their order of succession, and the length of their 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES A T BOOIAK, 109 

reigns, correspond with Manetho's table, and there is 
no evidence of any two dynasties, among those re- 
corded, having existed side by side. Although fully 
aware of the difficulties which may be created by this 
extension of Egyptian chronology, and by no means 
inclined to accept it as exact, Marietta frankly ac- 
knowledges himself unable to dispute it. The char- 
acter of the monuments, now for the first time prop- 
erly contrasted, indicates great changes, even within 
the rigid boundaries of Egyptian art ; and these are 
so clearly marked that the age of a statue or sarcoph- 
agus may often be approximately estimated before 
reading the inscriptions upon it. In short, the same 
process of study and critical knowledge of details, 
heretofore so successfully applied to Greek and Ro- 
man antiquities, now opens a way for us into the shad- 
ows of the mysterious " forty centuries *' which pass- 
ed over Ancient Egypt before our synchronous history 
begins. 

Enough by way of prelude. On reaching the Mu- 
seum at Boolak, which is free to all visitors except on 
Fridays, you first enter a dusty garden-court, on the 
high, crumbling bank of the Nile, with a glimpse of 
the opposite shore, and the dim, over-lapping trian- 
gles of the Pyramids. On the left is an ordinary 
Turkish dwelling, the residence of Mariette Bey; on 
the right is the Museum, a very plain, cheap structure, 
but so admirably arranged that its treasures can be at 
once discovered and profitably studied. I saw large 
square granite boxes on both sides of the entrance, 
and was about to pass them v/ithout special notice. 



no EGYPT, 

when Herr Brugsch, brother of the Vice-Director, said: 
** These are the oldest sarcophagi yet found." They 
were of the Fourth dynasty (Cheops), and imposing 
from their very simphcity — -each a mass of hollowed 
granite, with a flat lid having two square projections 
at each end, as if two men might be expected to take 
them in their hands and thus lift off the cover. One 
contained the words, in hieroglyphics, on each of the 
four sides : ** The King's Son." 

Mariette's collections (that is, so much of them as 
there is room to exhibit) are arranged in seven vesti- 
bules and halls. There is iVo such attempt at effect, 
as in the Museum in Berlin, where the frescoes of the 
Theban tombs are imitated on the walls, and a beau- 
tiful doorway, violently torn from its original place by 
Lepsius, is stuck together again. The relics are sim- 
ply arranged according to their civil or religious char- 
acter, those of the earlier dynasties having the most 
conspicuous places, and these latter, by their higher 
artistic character, are the first objects which attract 
the eye on entering. There are plenty of statues of 
the gods, coffins, and sarcophagi, as in other museums; 
yet, towering over them, instinct with life and charac- 
ter, are those marvellous forms of carved wood or 
painted limestone, belonging to the Third and Fourth 
dynasties, which flash upon us a new revelation of the 
oldest civilization of Egypt. No other statues like 
these have yet been recovered : they give the Museum 
a distinct and separate value. 

In the court there are three statues belonging to 
an age from which no other monuments have been 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES A T BOOIAK. iii 

found — that of the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, whose 
invasion of Egypt about the year 2200 B. C. (Mane- 
tho), and usurpation of the government for nearly 
five centuries, are sufficiently attested by other rec- 
ords. It has been a matter of conjecture who these 
Shepherds were, and few archaeologists could have been 
prepared for the marked Turanian or Tartar type, 
which is so distinctly given in their statues. The eyes 
are long and narrow, the brows prominent, the cheek- 
bones projecting, the mouth large and wide, and the 
beard thick upon the jaws and chin. They are cer- 
tainly neither Egyptian nor Semitic : I have seen just 
such faces among the Calmucks, in Russia. Two of 
them were found at Tan is (the Zoajt of the Old Tes- 
tament) in the Delta, and the third in the Fyoom, 
which shows that the Hyksos possessed at least all 
Lower Egypt. They have been savagely battered 
and mutilated, probably during the dynasty which 
overthrew the rule of their originals ; but the hard 
dark granite still holds the type of the race. If the 
pre-Trojan city discovered by Dr. Schliemann should 
prove also to have had Turanian inhabitants, here 
would be a new link, of the highest importance, in 
the chain of the earliest migrations. 

In the main vestibule, crowded with precious rel- 
ics, I can only notice those extraordinary specimens 
of the oldest Egyptian Art, which are to be seen no- 
where else in the world. The eye is at once drawn to 
two life-sized statues of painted limestone, which, 
from their pedestals, seem to overlook and guard the 
later remains. They are nude, save a cloth, folded 



112 EGYPT. 

in front like an apron, which falls from the hips to the 
knees. The arms and legs are rather stiffly modelled, 
but quite free from the conventional rigidity of Egyp- 
tian statues. Indeed, the hands, feet, and joints show 
a careful study not only of nature, but also of the in- 
dividual. The trunks are excellently rendered, in 
their main masses, like the half-finished clay model 
of a modern sculptor. But the heads are simply 
amazing, in their correct embodiment of life and 
character. In them there is no prescribed solemnity 
of expression, in closed lips, steadfast eyes, and hands 
resting flatly on the knees, as in the statues chiselled 
two thousand years later. They beam with a frank, 
free, naive apprehension of Nature ; and exhibit the 
activity of an Art which is just about to overcome the 
last stubborn resistance of the material. There is no 
representation of motion, as in the crowning days of 
Greek sculpture ; the figures stand or sit, but you 
feel that a slight effort would enable them to rise or 
walk. 

One of the statues represents a priest named Ra- 
Nefer, another a civil official, Tih^ whose tomb still 
remains entire at Memphis, where these and other 
similar figures of smaller dimensions were found. The 
most of them date from the Fourth or Fifth dynasties. 
The colors are as brilliant as if but yesterday applied 
to the stone. The climate of Egypt and the sand 
under which the sepulchral chambers have so long 
been buried, seem absolutely to prevent decay, and 
thus these most ancient recovered monuments appear 
to be modern in comparison with those which were 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES AT BOOLAK, 113 

exposed to the air. In 185 1, shortly after my meet- 
ing with Mariette at Memphis, he discovered the un- 
violated tomb of an Apis-bull. On first entering, he 
saw upon the light layer of dust covering the floor the 
distinct footprints of the men who had placed the 
mummy in his sarcophagus, 3,700 years before ! 

Passing on to the main hall, the first objects I 
sought were the wooden statues belonging to the Fourth 
dynasty (that of Cheops, about 4235 B. c), discov- 
ered not long since. The light from the ceiling, fall- 
ing on the close-cropped crown of the old *' village 
m.agistrate " {sheikh el-belled^ as he is now called by 
the Egyptians), gave him the reality of a living figure, 
among so many which seemed to be dead or asleep m 
the shadows. The statue, about three feet eight inches 
in height, is carved out of sycamore wood, which has 
now become hard and resonant as metal. It repre- 
sents a corpulent man of about forty-five years of age, 
holding in one hand a long staff of office, while the 
other, clenched, hangs at his side. His only garment 
is a cloth wound around the loins and falling to the 
knees. The face is remarkably intelligent, cheerful 
and benevolent — a Shakesperean head, one might say, 
it gives such evidence of a large, rich, and attractive 
nature. The nose is slightly aquiline, with sensitive 
nostrils of only moderate breadth, the lips, large and 
half-smiling, equally ready to open for a joke or a 
blessing, and the cheeks and chin full, but firmly 
rounded and not puffy. The eyes, especially, are re- 
markable specimens of the earliest pre-Raphaelite at- 
tempts to represent nature. They are inserted, and 



114 EGYPT. 

with a finesse of invention which ahnost seems a 
higher art. The lashes are thin rims of bronze ; the 
whites are formed of white opaque quartz, the iris of 
rock crystal, and in the centre of each is set a small 
crystal with many facets, which from every side reflects 
a keen point of light, like that in the human eye. 
Herr Brugsch said to me : '^ There are times when 
this head absolutely lives ; " and I could well believe 
him. The statue is probably six thousand years old, 
thus antedating by three thousand seven hundred 
years all other relics of art which are in any way 
worthy of being placed beside it. 

There are two other heads of wood, with torsos, of 
the same era — whether broken or mutilated I could 
not ascertain. One, a woman^ possesses the same dis- 
tinct individuality as the good and just magistrate. 
There are differences in the two sides of the face, which 
show the most careful study of the original. She is 
neither handsome nor ugly, but you see at once that 
she was no ordinary person, and that, in her day, you 
would much rather have had her for a friend than an 
enemy. 

I will hasten through two intervening chambers to 
reach what impressed me as the most interesting group 
in the whole collection. It was found only eighteen 
months ago, in an ancient necropolis, beside that 
singular pile of masonry, called by the natives the 
Ha7'ain el-Keddb, or Lying Pyramid, on the western 
bank of the Nile, about fifty miles south of Cairo. 
This structure has never been opened, or even ade- 
quately examined, but the conjecture of some archa^- 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES A T BOOLAK, T15 

ologists that it was built by King Sne-frou, the prede- 
cessor of Cheops, is possibly confirmed by Mariette's 
discovery of the two painted limestone statues, which 
belong to the Third Dynasty. 

The inscriptions show that they represent the prince 
Ra-Hoiep and the princess Nefer-t^ who may have 
been either his wife or sister. The size of life, they 
sit side by side on plain, massive chairs ; but the atti- 
tudes are easy and natural, and the hands are not laid 
upon the knees. Only the drapery — a loin-cloth for 
the man and a simple white garment, without folds, 
for the woman — is stiffly and awkwardly represented. 
The muscles of the chest and limbs, the joints, hands, 
and feet, are carefully modelled, and the heads might 
be boldly set beside the best portrait-busts ever made. 
Ra-Hotep's flesh is painted of a fresh, ruddy color, 
and Nefer-t's a pale olive ; yet the features indicate 
that they belonged to the same race. Nothing can be 
finer than the delicate individuality expressed in the 
two f\ices. His is strong, proud, asserting authority ; 
hers, kind, sympathetic, yet carried with the air of one 
to whom respect is inevitably paid. The type is the 
same as that of the ** village magistrate," but greatly 
finer and nobler. The eyes are inserted in the same 
manner, and are of even more admirable workman- 
ship ; for they fairly gleam and sparkle, and there are 
moments when a human intelligence suddenly lights 
up the face. , 

It is a remarkable circumstance, and one over which 
the ethnologists will doubtless break their heads, that 
these remains of the earliest, freest, and highest art 



ii6 EGYPT. 

yet discovered in Egypt should represent a quite dif- 
ferent physical type from that of the later dynasties. 
That they are Caucasian, or Aryan, is evident at the 
first glance ; that they possessed intelligence, energy, 
and those moral qualities which we express by the 
word ** character," seems equally certain. Looking 
at Ra-Hotep's face, your first impression is : ^^ Here 
is a gentleman ! " The remains of the Ancient Em- 
pire suggest a certain amount of freedom — continuous 
development among both rulers and people ; those of 
the Later Empire, on the contrary, are rigidly stamped 
with the seal of a priestly despotism. 

Here, for instance, is a splendid granite statue of 
King Sha-fra (Cephrenes, the builder of the second 
Pyramid), which Mariette found at the bottom of a 
well in the very ancient granite temple, which he dis- 
covered eight years ago, near the Sphinx. It bears all 
the marks of the same ardent, struggling art which we 
detect in the wooden and limestone statues. The 
head is slightly lifted : the features are modelled with 
a care which attests to us the exactness of the portrait ; 
the eyes look, and do not simply dream, as in the 
forms of the Later Empire ; and while one hand rests, 
but not flatly, upon the knee, the other is closed and 
brought down upon the thigh, as who should say: 
*' Such is my will!" The figure speaks and com- 
mands, while the later Thothmes and Rameses sit, 
like Brahma, in endless passiveness. It will be found, 
I am sure, that the decadence of the art of Egypt, 
during her most illustrious historical periods, was due 
to the despotic limitations of her religion. It was the 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES A T BOOLAK. 117 

same spirit which, during the Middle Ages and since, 
has compelled the artists to give a particular color to 
the drapery of each Apostle, and to design Annunci- 
ations, Assumptions, Transfigurations, Judgments, 
according to one easily recognizable pattern. 

Mariette^s discoveries, thus far, have thrown less 
light upon the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, than 
many might have expected, or wished. We are apt 
to forget, in the great importance which the Biblical 
narrative possesses for us, that a small subject race, like 
the Jews, could only be accidentally mentioned in the 
annals of such a proud and powerful people. A few 
strong probabilities, however, are worthy of being no- 
ticed. The conjectured period of Joseph^s arrival in 
Egypt corresponds with that of the Hyksos, or Shep- 
herd Kings, who, being strangers themselves, would 
the more readily confer high authority upon a stran- 
ger. Moses, almost certainly, was educated as an 
Egyptian priest under the reign of Rameses II., and 
the Pharaoh of the Exodus, Menephthah was the lat- 
ter's son, a superb bust of whom is in Mariette's mu- 
seum. The name, Moses, is the Egyptian Mesii, sig- 
nifying ''child" or ''boy." A recently-deciphered 
papyrus contains an official report concerning a cer- 
tain "Mesu," who is declared to have much influence 
over "the foreign people," as the descendants of the 
Hyksos, the Israelites, and other Semitic tribes set- 
tled in the Delta, were collectively designated. 
Bricks made with and without straw, are to be found 
in quantities among the ruins of Bubastis and other 
Egyptian cities in the Land of Goshen. 



Ii8 EGYPT. 

It is difficult to make an end, while so much re- 
mains undescribed, yet I must try to avoid the for- 
mality of a catalogue. A large glass case in one of 
the eastern rooms is quite tilled by the magnificent 
jewels of the queen, Aah-hotep (of the Eighteenth 
Dynasty, about 1700 B. C.)? supposed to be the 
mother of King Amosis, who overthrew the Hyksos. 
The splendid gilded coffin was found intact, only two 
or three feet below the soil, at a small village near 
Thebes. It appears to have been stolen from the sep- 
ulchre by thieves who were pursued or became alarm- 
ed, and hastily buried it by the way. No modern 
queen would hesitate to wear the exquisite chains, 
diadems, ear-rings, and bracelets of this Theban 
woman. It would require a professional jeweller to do 
justice to the admirable quality of the workmanship. 

Of even greater interest are the household articles, 
implements of trade, food, etc., which, like the spoils 
of Pompeii, restore for us the domestic life of the 
people. Here, for instance, are stools, cane-bottomed 
chairs and work-boxes, four thousand years old, 
yet no more dilapidated than if they came out of a 
garret of the last century ; nets, knives, needles, and 
toilet ornaments; glass bottles and drinking cups, 
as clear as if just blown ; earthenware, glazed in blue 
and yellow patterns, the very counterpart of old Ma- 
jolica ; seeds, eggs, and bread ; straw baskets, and a 
child's ball for playing; paint-boxes with colors and 
brushes, and boards for games of draughts — in short, 
a collection almost as varied and complete as the 
ashes of Vesuvius preserved for us of the Grasco- 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES A T BOOLAK. 119 

Roman life of the year seventy-nine- of our era. But 
these Egyptian relics date from one thousand to 
three thousand years before our era began. 

I have left myself no space to speak of the stele of 
Alexander, or the Canopic Stone, which, like the Ro- 
setta Stone of Champollion, contains the same docu- 
ment in Greek, Hieroglyphic, and Demotic charac- 
ters. It is a limestone slab, six feet high, beautifully 
engraved, and in the most perfect state of preserva- 
tion. This additional proof of the correctness of 
Champollion's interpretation of the hieroglyphics was 
really not needed, but the confirmation it brings will 
be a comfort to many hesitating minds. I have pur- 
posely paid less attention to the later and more exact 
historical records in the Museums, because the reve- 
lation of the earliest periods, which Mariette has very 
recently brought to light, are still comparatively un- 
known to the world ; and they are certainly of incal- 
culable value. 



CHAPTER X. 

FRAGMENTS OF EARLY EGYPTIAN LITERATURE. 

Cairo, April 4. 
T MUST return once more to Mariette's discoveries. 
-^ In order to appreciate their importance, the reader 
must remember that the difficulties in the way of de- 
ciphering the hieroglyphic characters have been so 
nearly overcome, that most of the civic or religious 
records are now read with almost as much facility as 
if they had been inscribed in Hebrew or Syriac. Al- 
though ChampoUion's inspired genius and marvellous 
good fortune only gave him the interpretation of 
about seven hundred characters, more than four thou- 
sand five hundred are now intelligible to the scholars 
of Germany and France. Moreover, it is settled that 
Egypt had her written language long before the Pyra- 
mids were built, together with all the main features of 
her religion, and a well-developed if not an elaborate 
political organization. 

In proportion as the mysteries of the old Egyptian 
Faith are revealed to us, we discover, in place of a 
gross and grotesque mythology, the evidences of a 
symmetrical theological system, based upon a profound 
philosophical apprehension of the forces of Nature. 
Mariette says : 



EARL Y EGYPTIAN LITERA TURE. 121 

'^ On the summit of the Egyptian Pantheon hovers 
a sole God, immortal, increate, invisible, and hidden 
in the inaccessible depths of his ov/n essence. He 
is the Creator of heaven and earth ; he made all 
that exists, and nothing was made without him. This 
is the God, the knowledge of whom was reserved for 
the initiated, in the sanctuaries. But the Egyptian 
mind could not or would not remain at this subHme 
altitude. It considered the world, its formation, the 
principles which govern it, man and his earthly des- 
tiny, as an immense drama in which the one Being is 
the only actor. All proceeds from him, and all re- 
turns to him. But he has agents who are his own 
personified attributes, who become deities in visible 
forms, limited in their activity, yet partaking of his 
own powers and qualities." 

In fact, as in all forms of Faith, there is a ladder 
rising from pure realism to the highest pinnacle of 
spiritual aspiration ; and individual souls, or classes 
of souls, rest at the height wliich corresponds to their 
quality. 

We must suppose that a people so far developed as 
the Egyptians under the Ancient Empire, had also a 
Literature. The character of their art would attest it, 
if nothing else. Songs, poems, parables, perhaps ro- 
mances, must have been written, chanted, or recited, 
and even if the isolated grandeur and awe attached to 
the rulers prohibited the inscription of such works upon 
solid tablets, they could hardly have escaped being 
here and there deposited, on papyrus scrolls, with the 
bodies of their authors or their admirers. The scribes 



122 EGYPT. 

appear to have been a large and important class, as 
early as the Fourth Dynasty, and they, in combination 
with the priesthood, probably produced the prayers, 
invocations, and litanies of the Temples, which became 
orthodox and therefore invariable for the Later Em- 
pire. 

I believe no fragments of a purely secular literature 
have yet been found ; but the many translations made 
by Mariette show the high poetic character of the early 
religious and historic literature. Certain forms of the 
faith, in fact, lent themselves as readily to poetry as 
those of the Greek Mythology. Its basis was strongly 
spiritual, the leading article being a belief in the im- 
mortality of the soul, and its future reward or punish- 
ment for the deeds done in the body — a belief, the ear- 
nestness of which, among the Egyptians, is all the more 
remarkable because it seems to have been quite weak 
or imperfect among the ancient Hebrews, Then the 
myths of Isis and Osiris, typifying the struggle of Light 
with Darkness, the beautiful attributes of the young 
god Horus, the rising sun represented by Harpocrates 
issuing from the lotus-flower, with numberless others, 
offer images which would kindle the imagination of 
even a primitive poet. One of the oldest specimens 
was found at Memphis, on a tablet of the Ancient 
Empire. It had belonged, according to the inscrip- 
tion, to the tomb of a royal scribe, named Anaoua ; 
and a part of it contains a remarkable invocation to 
the Sun. 



EARL V EG YP TIAN LITER A TURE, 123 

'^HYMN TO THE SUN. 

** Words pronounced in worshipping the Sun, who 
rises for the Creation from the solar mountain, and 
who goeth down in the divine hfe by the Osiris, the 
royal scribe, the chief of the house, Anaoua, pro- 
claimed the Just. He speaketh : 

'' Hail to thee, when thou risest in the solar moun- 
tain under the form of Ra, and when thou goest down 
under the form of Ma ! Thou circlest about the heav- 
ens, and men behold and turn toward thee, hiding 
their faces ! Would that I might accompany thy 
majesty when thou displayest thyself on the morning 
of each day ! Thy beams upon the faces of men could 
no one describe : gold is as nought, compared to thy 
beams. The lands divine, they are seen in pictures : 
the countries of Arabia, they have been numbered : 
thou alone art concealed ! Thy transformations are 
equal to those of the celestial ocean: it marches as 
thou marchest. Grant that I reach the land of eter- 
nity and the region of them that have been approved; 
that I be reunited with the fair and wise spirits of Ker- 
nefer, and that I appear among them to contemplate 
thy beauty, on the morning of each day ! " 

A thorough poetic spirit breathes through the mys- 
ticism of this chant. The beginning half suggests the 
invocation of Ossian, but has a freshness and simplicity 
far beyond the sentimental resonance of the latter. 
Behind the material sun which is addressed, one dis- 
tinctly feels the principle of good, of light, and intelli- 
gence, which its orb symbolizes. 



124 EGYPT. 

The next quotation I shall make is from a tablet 
celebrating the victories of Thothmes III., which was 
chiselled for the great temple of Karnnk. This mon- 
arch, one of the greatest who ruled in Egypt, was the 
fourth successor of Amosis, who overthrew the Hyk- 
sos, and liv^d in the seventeenth century before Christ. 
He was a famous conqueror, during his reign, ac- 
cording to an inscription still existing : "■ Egypt set her 
frontiers wherever she pleased." He subjected Nubia, 
Syria, Mesopotamia, and perhaps a part of Asia Mi- 
nor: and it was apparently toward the close of his 
reign, on the occasion of some solemn celebration of 
his victories, that the chant of praise w^as written. It 
is a poem, in the true sense of the word, not an his- 
torical document, and its author was perhaps some 
priestly Theban laureate. It represents a period two 
thousand years later than the *^ Hymn to the Sun," and 
is consequently cast in a much more symmetrical and 
artistic form. The opening is a welcome given by 
the god, Amun-Ra (the Jupiter Ammon of the Greeks), 
'^ the lord of the thrones of the world," to King 
Thothmes on the return of the latter from his tri- 
umphs: 

'' Come to me and be rejoiced in beholding my 
grace, O mine avenger, living forever ! I shine through 
thine adorations ; my heart dilates to thy welcome in 
my temple. I enfold thy limbs with mine arms, to 
give them health and life. Pleasant are thy favors to 
me, through the image which thou hast set up for me 
in my sanctuary. It is I who compensate thee ; it is I 
who give thee power and victory over all the nations ; 



EARL V EG YP TIAN LITER A TURE. 125 

it is I who cause the knowledge and the fear of thee 
to be upon all countries, and that the terror of thee 
reaches even unto the four supports of the heavens.'* 

There is much more of this preliminary welcome in 
the same strain. Then, suddenly, the god Amun-Ra 
begins to intone a cadenced chant, in which we find 
one of the very earliest indications of a rhythmical po- 
etic form. Its resemblance to the later Hebrew chants 
will not escape the reader : 

AMUN-RA TO THOTHMES III. 

*•' I am come, and 1 permit thee to smite the princes 
of Tahi : I cast them under thy feet when thou passest 
through their lands. I have made them behold thy 
splendor, as a lord of light ; thou shinest upon them 
like mine image. 

** I am come, and I permit thee to smite the inhabi- 
tants of Asia, to lead into captivity the chiefs of the 
land of the Rotennu. I have made them behold thy 
majesty bound with the girdle, bearing weapons and 
fighting upon the chariot. 

^^ I am come, and I permit thee to smite the country 
of the East, to penetrate even to the cities of the Holy 
Land. I have made them behold thy majesty, like 
unto the star Canopus, which darts forth its flame and 
brings the dew. 

'* I am come, and I permit thee to smite the country 
of the West : Kefa and Asia are under thy terror. I 
have made them behold thy majesty, like unto a young 
and valiant bull : his ornaments are his horns, and 
nothing resists him. 



126 EGYPT, 

'' I am come, and I permit thee to smite all the 
districts : the land of Maten trembles with fear before 
thee. I have made them behold thy majesty like unto 
a crocodile : he is the terrible master of the waters : 
no one ventures to approach him. 

"' I am come, and I permit thee to smite them that 
dwell in the islands ; the inhabitants of the sea are 
under the terror of thy shouts of war. I have made 
them behold thy majesty like an avenger who stands 
upon the back of his victim. 

** I am come, and I permit thee to smite the Ta- 
hennu : the isles of Tana, they are subject unto thy 
designs. I have made them behold thy majesty like 
unto a lion terrible to see, who lieth down upon their 
corpses in the breadth of their valleys. 

''• I am come, and I permit thee to smite the dis- 
tricts of the waters : that those who dwell around the 
great sea may be bound by thy hand. I have made 
them behold thy majesty like the king of the wing 
which soars, and whose sight lays hold upon whatever 
it pleases. 

** I am come, and I permit thee to smite those who 
are in their .... that the Heruscha - be led by thee 
into captivity. I have made them behold thy majesty 
like unto the jackal of the south, he that, in his hid- 
den prowlings, traverses all the land. 

''' I am come, and I permit thee to smite the Ann 
of Nubia ; that the Remenson may be put under thy 



* The Herusclia were the same as their descendants the 
present Bischari tribe in the Nubian Desert. 



EARL V EG YP TIAN LITER A TURE. 127 

hand. I have made them behold thy majesty Uke 
unto that of them who are thy two brothers : * their 
arms are brought upon thee to give thee [victory]." 

It seems to me that the Hebrew Literature draws its 
style and character as directly from the Egyptian as 
the Latin does from the Greek. If the lofty theism 
preserved as a mystery in the sanctuaries of the tem- 
ples struck a far profounder root in Israel, during its 
free and glorious ages, and blossomed in the highest 
and divinest forms of spiritual aspiration, the tone 
and cadence of its expression suggest none the less the 
language of the Nile. Who shall say, indeed, whether 
the chief element of Faith, purified by the inspired 
genius of Moses, was not originally the same. 

If a collection were made of similar or equivalent 
expressions, in Egyptian and Hebrew, it would surely 
be richer and more striking than is now generally 
supposed. Beginning with an ancient inscription on 
the temple of Sais : *' I am who is, has been, and ever 
shall be," we should doubtless find a long series of 
reverential phrases, which are already familiar to our 
ears. Mariette says that the following, from one of 
the early Egyptian rituals, is repeated so frequently 
on stelce and tombs that we are justified in supposing 
it to be part of a daily prayer : *^ Through my love 
have I drawn near to God. I have given bread to 
him who was hungry, water to him who was athirst, 

- Thothmes III. succeeded his brother, Thothmes II. 
The other brother may be his masculine and victorious sis- 
ter, Hatasou, who was regent seventeen years during his 
minority. 



128 EGYPT. 

garments to him who was naked, and a place of shel- 
ter to the abandoned." 

One more passage, in which an historical event is 
narrated both in a poetic and dramatic fashion, must 
conclude my specimens of the Old Egyptian Litera- 
ture. It is sculptured on the exterior wall of the tem- 
ple of Karnak, and also on the northern front of the 
large pylon at Luxor. Some Egyptologists call it the 
'*Poem of Pen-ta-our," but I am unable to say 
whether that is the author's name. The subject is an 
exploit of Rameses II. (Sesostris), toward the close 
of his eighteen years of war with the people of Asia, 
and therefore between the years 1350 and 1400 B. C. 
It appears that under Rameses II., a series of rebel- 
lions occurred throughout the regions conquered by 
his predecessors, Sethi and Rameses I. In Nubia, 
Libya, Asia Minor, and along the borders of Media 
and Assyria, the tribes rose against the Egyptian rule. 
One by one they were reconquered, but a people 
called in the inscription, *^the vile race of Khetas," 
held out stubbornly to the end, and were never thor- 
oughly overcome. They stood at the head of a con- 
federacy of smaller tribes, the names of which (Ara- 
dus, Patasa, Kashkash, Cherobe, etc.) may hereafter 
determine their geographical locality. In the fifth 
year of his reign, in marching upon the city of Atesch, 
Rameses II., deceived by the Bedouins, whom the 
Khetas bribed to act as guides for him, became scj a- 
rated from his army, and suddenly found himself 
alone, surrounded by the enemy. What then hap- 
pened, is thus related by the poet: 



£A RLYEGYFl 7 A N LI TERA TURE, 1 29 

''His Majesty, in the health and strength of his 
life, rising like the god Mofitk, put on the panoply of 
battle. Urging forward his chariot, he entered into 
the army of the vile Khetas ; he was alone, no one 
else with him. He found himself surrounded by two 
thousand five hundred chariots, and the most; rapid 
warriors of the vile Khetas, and the numerous tribes 
who accompanied them rushed to stay his course. 
Each of their chariots held three men, and the king 
had with him neither his princes, nor his generals, 
nor the captains of the bowmen and the chariots." 

In this perilous strait, Rameses addressed the fol- 
lowing prayer to the supreme god of Egypt : 

*^ My bowmen and my horsemen have abandoned 
me : not one of them is here to combat beside me ! 
What, then, is the purpose of my father Amnion ? Is 
he a father who denies his son ? Have I not gone 
according to thy word, O my father? Thy mouth, 
has it not guided my marches, and thy counsels, have 
they not directed me ? Have 1 not celebrated thee 
with many and splendid festivals, and have I not filled 
thy mansion with my spoils ? The whole world hath 
assembled to dedicate to thee its offerings. I have 
enriched thy domain, immolating to thee thirty thou- 
sand beeves, with all sweet-smelling herbs and the most 
precious perfumes. With blocks of stone have I raised 
temples for thee, and for thee have I set up the eter- 
nal trees. I have brought obelisks from Elephantina, 
and even I have caused the everlasting stones to be 
moved. For thee my great ships traverse the sea, and 
carry to thee the tributes of the nations. I invoke 
9 



130 EGYPT. 

thee, O my father ! I am in the midst of throno^s of 
unknown people, and I am alone before thee : no one 
is beside me. My bowmen and my horsemen aban- 
doned me when I cried to them : not one of them 
heard me when I called them to my aid. But I choose 
Ammon rather than thousands of bowmen, than 
thousands of horsemen, than myriads of young heroes, 
even were they all assembled together ! " 

The god answers : 

^•Thy words have resounded in Hermonthis, O Ra- 
rneses ! I am near thee, I am thy father, the Sun : 
my hand is with thee, and I count more to thee than 
millions of men assembled together ! The two thou- 
sand five hundred chariots, when I shall be in their 
midst, shall be broken before thy horses. The hearts 
of thine enemies shall grow weak within their sides, 
and all their members shall be relaxed. They shall 
fail to discharge their arrows, and shall have no cour- 
age to hold the lance. I shall cause them to plunge 
into the waters, even as the crocodile plunges : they 
shall be thrown one upon the other, and they shall 
slay one another. Not one will I suffer to look be- 
hind him : he that falls shall not rise again." 

Then the charioteer, standing beside Rameses, thus 
addresses him : 

** O, my good master, generous king, sole protector 
of Egypt in the day of battle, we are left alone in the 
midst of the enemy's ranks : stay thy course, and let 
us save the breath of our lives ! What shall we do, 
O Rameses, my good master ? " 

The kins^ answers : 



EARL V EG YPTIAN LITER A TURE, 131 

'^ Courage, be of good cheer, O, rny charioteer ! I 
shall throw myself into the midst of them, even as 
darteth the divine hawk: overthrown and slaughtered, 
they shall fall in the dust.'' 

Six times Rameses drives his chariot through the 
hostile ranks, slaying many of their best warriors. 
Then some of his generals and horsemen come to his 
assistance, and are greeted with a sharp reproof, 
which, indeed, they seem to have well deserved. In 
the evening the whole Egyptian army arrives, and 
finds the field of combat covered with the bodies of 
the slain. The generals thus address the king: 

** Good fighter, thou of the dauntless heart, thyself 
hast done the work of thy bowmen and thy horsemen. 
Son of the godTioum, formed out of his own substance, 
thou hast effaced the country of the Khetas with thy 
victorious sword. Thou, O my warrior, art the lord 
of all strength: never was a king like to thee, who 
fightest for thy soldiers on the day of battle. Thou, 
king of the great heart, art the first in combat ; thou 
art first of the valiant before thine army, in the face 
of the whole world risen against thee." 

Rameses replies to them : 

'^No one of you hath well done in abandoning me 
thus, alone among mine enemies. The princes and 
the captains have not joined their hands to mine. I 
have fought, I have repulsed thousands of the tribes, 
and I was alone. The horses which carried me were : 
Power in the Thebaid and Repose in the Superior Re- 
gion. They are they which my hand found when I 
was alone among mine enemies. I order that corn 



J32 EGYPT, 

shall be served to them before the god Phra, each day, 
when I shall again be within my royal pylons,'* 

The exaggerations of the poet and the conventional 
honors he accords to the king do not prevent us from 
recognizing some of the features of an actual occur- 
rence. Rameses no doubt fell into an ambuscade, 
and possessing superior arms, armor and horses, de- 
fended himself gallantly until assistance arrived. 
The flattery is not much more excessive than in most 
modern paintings of battles, wherein the crowned 
head is always represented as halting or riding forward 
under the heaviest fire of the enemy. 

These fragments belong to the earliest literature of 
the human race; for the last of them, just quoted, was 
written while Moses was yet a child. I therefore 
make no apology for the length of this letter, although 
its contents may be known to those whose attention 
has been especially drawn to the surprising revela- 
tions which Egypt has so long kept secret, but at last 
fully revealed to the world. 



CHAPTER XL 

EGYPT UNDER THE KHEDIVE'S RULE. 

Cairo, April 4. 

ELEVEN years have elapsed since Ismail Pasha, 
the Viceroy, or Khedive (an uncertain title, sup- 
posed to be a grade higher than the former) of Egypt, 
succeeded to the heritage of his grandfather, Moham- 
med Ali. Since then, the Suez Canal has been com- 
pleted, and for more than four years has been opened 
to the commerce of the world ; the cities of Ismailia 
and Port Said have grown up with the rapidity of 
Kansas or Nebraska towns ; the delta is covered with 
railways, and Upper Egypt is reached by the locomo- 
tive ; the regions of Soudan have become safe, orderly, 
and easily accessible ; and Cairo and Alexandria have 
their statues and theatres, their paved, sprinkled, and 
gas-lighted streets. More significant than this, the 
area of cultivated land has increased from twenty to 
thirty per cent, throughout the country, the extension 
of the canals and the growth of the trees have pro- 
duced a marked influence on the rainfall, and thus 
climate as well as industry are coming to resemble the 
European rather than the former African conditions. 
In Cairo, for instance, where the average was until 
recently, four or five rainy days in a year, it has now 



134 EGYPT. 

increased to twenty-one ; in the Delta, where it was 
eight, it is now forty ! This change correspondingly 
diminishes the temperature of the Winter months ; 
and fires for warmth, although still unknown, are al- 
ready a necessity. This year the Spring is not more 
forward than in Southern Italy : it has only just come, 
with a startling rapidity which I had supposed pecu- 
liar to high northern latitudes. Three days ago, the 
Indian sycamores, on the road to Heliopolis and 
Shoobra, stood perfectly cold and naked : to-day they 
are veiled in the brightest drapery of young leaves. 
The buds of the poplar and mulberry trees, also, are 
opening so fast that one can fairly notice a change 
from hour to hour. But this is April, in a land where 
February is wont to be the Spring month. 

Is is difficult to estimate the character of a develop- 
ment which depends upon the will of one man. With 
the wonderful spectacle of Japan before our eyes, we 
may easily be misled by the external signs of change 
in Egypt. In Japan, however, the experiment is tried 
upon a curious, restless, and quick-witted people, 
whose religious faith, tolerant because philosophic, 
interposes no serious hindrance to their advance in 
civilization. Here, the conditions are very different ; 
every change requires care and caution, and old prej- 
udices have even a greater force than personal inter- 
est. From all I can learn, the recent development of 
Egypt is chiefly material : due in great measure to the 
desire for show and gain of a ruler who is shrewd, in- 
telligeiit, practical in business matters, and personally 
ambitious. It is too much to expect that an Oriental 



EG yP T UNDER THE KHEDIVE'S R ULE. 135 

prince, in our day, shall manifest a hearty interest in 
the well-being of his subjects. The Egyptians com- 
plain bitterly of three evils, which to them more than 
counterbalance the advantages thrust upon them. 
These are : enormous taxes, utter lack of defense 
against the arbitrary will of those set over them, and 
the negligence and corruption of both civil and crim- 
inal courts. 

Until the last two or three years, Egyptian statistics 
have been very confused and untrustworthy. It is, 
therefore, difficult to make any satisfactory compari- 
sons. The people compare the Khedive's govern- 
ment with that of his predecessor. Said Pacha (1854 to 
1863), which gave them justice, security, and only 
moderate burdens ; and they seem to forget what they 
previously endured under Abbas Pasha, and during 
the last years of Mohammed All's reign. The latter, 
with all his tremendous energy and keen political wis- 
dom, was a selfish despot. He originated a method of 
taxation which would have ruined Egypt had it not 
been changed — a bounty on date palms, amounting to 
seven or eight cents a tree. During my journey in 
Ethiopia, in 1852, this tax had just been increased, 
and, in some districts, the people ruthlessly destroyed 
their palm groves in order to evade it. The tax has 
now been converted into one upon real estate, which is 
so high that a tract planted with date-palms costs at 
the rate of twenty cents a tree. The cost of labor and 
food has also increased, it is true, but in nothing like 
the same proportion. When, therefore, the people see 
the Khedive spending, in a few weeks, fifteen million 



136 EGYPT. 

dollars for the marriage festivities of his sons ; when 
they see enormous palaces building for these sons, 
while a score or two of royal residences are standing 
empty ; when they hear that the Government is hard 
up for money, while jewels are purchased and foreign 
opera troupes brought to Cairo regardless of expense, 
— it is not much wonder if they become impatient. 
Ignorant as they are, I verily believe the most of them 
would submit more readily to their burdens if the rev- 
enues of Egypt were bestowed mainly on necessary 
public works. 

The people, moreover, are still suffering from a 
great inflation and reaction which is curiously con- 
nected with our own internal struggle. The cotton 
crop of Egypt had been steadily, but rather slowly, 
increasing, up to the year i860, when it reached about 
one hundred and fifty thousand bales. The breaking 
out of the Rebellion gave a tremendous impetus to 
this branch of production ; the sudden rise in the 
value of cotton made it more profitable than wheat or 
sugar-cane. All over Egypt the cultivation spread: 
the shrewd agriculturists, who foresaw their chance, 
made such profits that the small Fellah farmers even 
pulled up their maize and onions, and planted cotton. 
By 1864 the production had reached four hundred 
and fifty thousand bales, which brought a market 
price three hundred and fifty per cent, higher than in 
i860. 

For the first time, perhaps in thousands of years, 
Egypt did not produce enough breadstuffs to support 
its people : wheat, corn and even fodder fbr cattle 



EGYPT UNDER THE KHEDI VK S RULE. 137 

were imported in large quantities. But the cattle 
themselves, half-starved and overworked by the labor 
of breaking new fields and drawing water, night and 
day, died in enormous numbers, — six hundred thou- 
sand head, according to an official report. It became 
finally necessary to import meat, oil, butter, and even 
lard, unclean to all Mohammedans, from Europe. 
This created a temporary branch of trade, wherein 
the speculators made enormous fortunes out of the 
necessities of the people — just as they do in certain 
other lands. The scarcity of animal power led to the 
introduction of small portable steam-engines for pump- 
ing water, and of cotton-gins. But engineers, ma- 
chinists for repairs, and especially fuel, were difficult 
to be had and very expensive : had the price of cot- 
ton kept up, the natives might have overcome this 
difficulty, but the most of them lost heart with their 
first reverses, and a castaway steam-engine, rusting in 
a ditch, is now a common enough sight. 

Most of the Fellahs were simply made wild by their 
sudden accession of wealth. Some of them built new 
houses, out of all proportion to their landed property ; 
others invested in Circassian or Abyssinian slave-girls ; 
but the most bought arms, golden ornaments, and 
jewelry. By and by the rise in the cost of all neces- 
saries of life began to diminish the profits. Then 
came the end of our war ; but the imaginative, cred- 
ulous Egyptian still believed that his age of gold 
would last. He borrowed, generally, on the most ex- 
orbitant terms; the meshes gathered about him, and 
in a year or two more he was little else than a beggar. 



I3S EGYPT. 

The Khedive turned this state of things to his own 
immense profit. He entered the field as a lender on 
a large scale, as a purchaser of mortgages which were 
always foreclosed when due, and as a wholesale custo- 
mer for the soil of Egypt. First the small farmers, 
then the large land-owners, saw their estates trans- 
ferred to him, then the intervening tracts were ac- 
quired by threats or persuasion, at a low price, until 
entire districts passed into the vice-regal hands. It is 
difficult to say how much of Egypt has in this man- 
ner become the Khedive's private property : some 
persons assert that it is half the productive soil. The 
free Fellahs are thus converted into mere laborers, or 
tenants at will, and more than ever subject to that 
arbitrary exercise of power which already seized upon 
them for special service, whenever it was judged nec- 
essary. 

The production of cotton, although it has somewhat 
fallen off since 1865, remains still much greater than 
formerly. In 1871, it was about four hundred thou- 
sand bales. The production of sugar from cane is 
also increasing rapidly, but as the Khedive's private 
speculation. An Anglo-Indian indigo planter is here, 
at present, in the same interest. He failed to find the 
proper conditions for indigo culture in the Delta, and 
has gone to the Fyoom. 

We must not rashly declare that such experiments 
and innovations, dictated by personal interest and a 
form of ambition which is really unusual in the Orient, 
will neither educate nor benefit the people. They 
will probably do both ; but the concentration of the 



EGYPT UNDER THE KHEDI VE S R ULE, 1 39 

ownership of the soil in the hands of the ruler, is a 
serious and dangerous evil. The Khedive is liberal, 
often splendidly generous, with his means ; not com- 
mon avarice, but the love of power, the necessity oi 
display, prompted him to take advantage of the 
thoughtlessness of the people. It was a sad mistake, 
for, to their minds, it adds deliberate injury to his 
former neglect. 

On the other hand, something is being done for 
their education, and herein the foreign residents have 
assisted to the extent of their means and opportuni- 
ties. At the close of Mohammed All's reign, there 
were three thousand children in the elementary schools 
in Egypt; there are now ninety thousand, but of these 
only three thousand and eighteen are girls. This is one 
scholar to every nine hundred and seventy-three of 
the whole population. I have noticed that the 
younger Egyptian officials who have been tolerably 
educated are impatient of the stupidity of their igno- 
rant countrymen, and far more inclined to look upon 
them with contempt than willing to join in measures 
for their improvement. 

In regard to religion, a greater tolerance certainly 
prevails in Cairo and along the valley of the Nile. 
The Khedive's own liberality in this respect is of 
course imitated by nearly the whole body of his civil 
servants, and the latter impress something of it upon 
the people. But, if he had taken pains to make him- 
self respected and beloved by the latter, as was his 
predecessor, he might have already sapped the remain- 
ing prejudices of Islam. I was a little surprised, on 



140 EGYPT. 

my arrival here, to find no sign of a rampant ortho- 
dox sentiment — a reUgious protest against acts and 
habits which were once supposed to bring defilement. 
I have since learned that such a movement has really 
been developed, within the last ten years, although it 
only ventures to show itself on the outskirts of the 
country. A new sect, called the Senussee^ has been 
formed, with the avowed object of restoring the primi- 
tive purity of Islam, trampling down the tolerance ac- 
corded to foreigners and teaching hate instead, and — 
as a matter of course — rejecting every element of civil- 
ization which has been borrowed from the Franks. 

This sect has gained a little foothold in some of the 
Oases of the Li jyan Desert, but it only exists secretly 
here and there in Egypt. It is too late for any such 
reaction to have even a temporary importance. Mecca 
has no Infallible Pope, to issue dead doctrines by proc- 
lamation, and make them living verities to millions of 
unquestioning souls. Islam has only its inherent 
strength to depend upon — but that is still not much 
weakened. In fact, if the same vital warmth of belief 
existed among the members of the Roman Church, 
Infallibility would be unnecessary. 

The Fellahs of Egypt possess many excellent quali- 
ties. They have an equal capacity for industry and 
indolence, which misleads those tourists who take 
most note of the latter condition. They have a natu- 
ral fund of humor, are very quick-witted, and learn 
easily, although the inventive faculty has nearly disap- 
peared, owing to long disuse. Fond of the minor arts 
of cheating, they are rarely guilty of the greater ones; 



EG YP T UNDER THE KHEDIVE'S R ULE. 141 

and the same man who will use every effort to get an 
advantage over you, will faithfully fulfill the special 
trust you repose in him. They are radically good- 
humored, cheerful even under sore privations, and 
bear but a brief malice when offended. The stranger 
who is firm and good-tempered at the same time ; 
who detects and thwarts their cunning without getting 
into a rage about it, and who enforces his will, taking 
care that it shall not be unreasonable, will never have 
any difficulty with these people. 

Even Herodotus made the mistake of declaring that 
the fruits of the earth are nowhere brought forth with 
so little labor as in Egypt. We are accustomed to 
consider the Valley of the Nile as a sort of natural 
harvest-field, self-renewed from year to year, its in- 
habitants having little more to do than sow the seed, 
and look on idly until the grain is ripe. I cannot 
see, however, that the Fellahs perform less, or less 
continual, labor than the farmers of Europe or Amer- 
ica. The inundation, it is true, leaves a thin deposit of 
new loam, but the field must be manured, in addition, 
from the supply furnished by the numberless pigeon- 
houses, and afterward well plowed. Then, during 
the growth of the grain, the irrigation requires daily 
supervision and toil. As the water sinks in the canals, 
it must be raised to the fields, either by wheels turned 
by buffaloes, or poles and buckets worked by men. 
From morning until night the people are busy, and I 
never heard one of them complaining of the amount 
of his toil. 

The Khedive is now forty-four years old, and bids 
7 



142 EGYPT. 

fair, from his appearance, to rule for at least a quar- 
ter of a century to come. It is not probable that his 
policy will be materially changed. He enjoys the sur- 
prise of visitors, called forth by the new aspect of the 
Delta and Cairo, and the reports of his achievements 
which are published in Europe. I doubt whether any 
other prince would have invited the redoubtable 
Miihlbach to spend a winter in his capital ; but then, 
he was not obliged to endure much of her overpower- 
ing society. He is thoroughly intelligent, and wide- 
awake to all that is going on in the world; even the 
High and Low Church squabbles in England do not 
escape him. Whatever can be introduced into Egypt 
with the smallest prospect of gain, or even without 
direct loss, will find him ready to consider it. If he 
lives, we shall surely have a railway to Khartoum, and 
steamers on the Victoria and Albert Nyanzas. The 
crown prince, Ibrahim, is said to be a young man of 
sluggish intellect and little promise ; but the Khe- 
dive's second son, Mohammed, now Minister of War, 
is fully his father's equal in intelligence, energy, and 
ambition. 



CHAPTER XII. 

FINAL NOTES FROM EGYPT. 

Alexandria, April 6. 

A SOJOURN of three weeks in Cairo has some- 
what reconciled me to the changes in the physi- 
ognomy of the newer half of the city, because they are 
the signs of coming change in the public and domes- 
tic life of the Orientals. Simply for artistic reasons, 
one would be glad to keep the ancient houses, with 
their carved doorways, their pillared courts, and the 
^'hushed seraglios" beyond; the close, irregular 
streets, almost always in shadow; the spicy, twilight 
bazars; and the long lanes where craftsmen of one 
trade work and gossip at the same time, have a fas- 
cinating stamp of the old Chalifate, and we should 
lose many vivid illustrations of past history in losing 
them. But we must remember that many of these 
picturesque features belong to political and social con- 
ditions which either have ceased or soon must cease. 
The dwelling, for instance, represents a secluded, un- 
seen household ; the narrow streets are synonymous 
with disease and deformity; the localization of forms 
of labor is a sign of caste. 

There can be no doubt that the broad, open streets 
of New Cairo mean comfort and health to the inhab- 



144 EGYPT, 

itants. When the trees now planted spread an arch 
of shade above them, and the garden shrubs have 
grown into bowers, the plagues of sun and dust will 
disappear. Moreover, the rich Egyptian, who in- 
habits a house built in the European style, cannot 
maintain a wholly invisible harem. His wives, who 
already begin to wear the white vail of thin Turkish 
gauze instead of the hideous black mask of the Cairene 
women, must walk in gardens or sit in chambers partly 
open to the public gaze. One such garden, on the 
Shoobra road, is even adorned with Italian statues of 
nymphs and goddesses. A few, but not many, of the 
new residences are surrounded with stone walls instead 
of iron railing. The education of girls is the starting- 
point ; the example of European women is another 
aid ; but the reform — like all others of a domestic 
character — must be accomplished with very little aid 
fi-om the men. Polygamy is the natural tendency of 
the male sex, except where the ethic sense has reached 
a high or sensitive point of development. 

I went to see the dancing dervishes again, and sat- 
isfied myself that the performances belong to the same 
class as the shouting, leaping up and down, or rolling 
and dancing excitements which were once quite preva- 
lent in Kentucky and other Western States. They 
are produced by a state of nervous exaltation (see the 
lectures of Dr. Brown-Sequard), which some are able 
to produce at will, and by which others are infected. 
There were about fifteen dervishes in the ring; the 
movements were at first slow and languid, though a 
liitle drum and two inharmonious flutes did what was 



FINAL NOTES FROM EGYPT. 145 

possible to quicken them. The increase in the rapid- 
ity of the gyrations corresponds exactly with the rapt, 
absorbed, blissful expression on the faces of the dan- 
cers. There was a boy of seventeen, dressed in pale- 
green silk, who had evider^tly lost all sense of time 
and place; but some of the older performers had 
partly exhausted their power of happy abstraction, and 
studied the spectators out of the corners of their eyes. 
The musical accompaniment is an innovation ; so, 
also, was the spectacle of an English artist, making 
sketches of the dervishes in their characteristic atti- 
tudes. 

Mr. Hamilton Wild, of Boston, who has just re- 
turned from the Second Cataract, brings back a col- 
lection of Nilotic studies which satisfy me better than 
any I have yet seen. Most artists who come to Egypt 
seek for strong, not to say violent, effects of color; yet 
the distinguishing characteristic of Egyptian landscape 
is a preponderance of the sweetest and most exquisite 
gray tints. The sky here is never so blue as in Italy 
or America ; the clouds are rarely seen in large, shin- 
ing masses ; the distances, composed mainly of 
fawn-colored sands or yellow-gray mountains, are deli- 
cately subdued in tone — in fact, nothing seems to 
gleam or burn except the fields of young wheat, as 
you look across them toward the sun. It is a scale of 
color filled with most subtle and almost infinite grada- 
tions. I am glad that a competent painter has at last 
seen the real instead of the' conventional Egypt. 

I spoke in a former letter of the change of climate 
during the past few years. A Winter season like the 



146 EGYPT, 

present is an anomaly, of course, but there can be no 
doubt that the average Winter temperature in Cairo 
and the Delta is lower than it was at the beginning of 
the century. Since the foreign population has so 
largely increased, we find also that the sanitary condi- 
tions of the country have been under-estimated. The 
hottest months are May and June, when the wind is 
generally from the south and sometimes rises into a 
dry, hot hurricane, which last two or three days. The 
rising of the Nile in Ethiopia seems to temper the at- 
mosphere for two or three weeks in advance of the in- 
undation at Cairo. July and August are hot during 
the middle hours of the day, but have pleasant even- 
ings and cool nights, and are not unhealthy. The 
chief danger of fever is during September and October, 
but even then it is not greater than in most of the 
Italian cities. Our Consul-General, Mr. Beardsley, 
intends to spend the coming Summer in Cairo, with 
his family — a trial of the climate, last year, having 
satisfied him that it is neither unhealthy nor oppres- 
sively hot. 

The comparatively large mortality among the na- 
tives is accounted for by their habits of life, and the 
low state of the healing art. The boys who survive 
dirt, privation, opthalmia and other diseases, become 
as good physical specimens of men as one finds in 
Italy or Spain. The population of Egypt proper was 
5,251,757, on the eleventh of March, 1872 : it has prob- 
ably increased about half a million during the last ten 
years Nubia, Ethiopia, and Soudan add about 2,000,- 
000 to the inhabitants of what might properly be call- 



FINAL NO TES FROM EG YP T. 147 

ed the Egyptian Empire. The proportion of Copts is 
about one-tenth, and the population of Frank or Eu- 
ropean birth cannot now be much less than 150,000. 

The climate, during the last fortnight of our stay in 
Cairo, was simply perfect. To the raw winds and 
chilly showers succeeded almost cloudless days, fanned 
by odorous breezes from the growing gardens. The 
temperature ranged between ']d' and 80° in the shade 
at noon, falling to 60^" in the evenings. It was nei- 
ther too warm to walk in the sun, nor too cool to sit 
in the shade. Yet the unusual weather of the pre- 
ceding weeks seemed to have left its mark in the shape 
of coughs, ailments of the throat and rheumatic pains. 
Day by day the dahabiyehs returned from upper 
Egypt, bringing all except a few belated tourists, and 
enticing reports of the wonderful climate of the The- 
ba'id. Our time was too closely measured, however, 
to allow us to enjoy the remaining ten or twenty days 
of delightful weather, before the khamseen, or south- 
wind, begins to blow. 

So I took another leave of my faithful friend, Ach- 
met es-Saidi, with the hope, dependent on Allah's 
will, of seeing him yet once more ; and we returned 
to Alexandria across the bright harvest-plains of the 
Delta. We patronized the slow train, as before, and 
found it equally punctual. 

This visit of a month, after so many years of ab- 
sence, has richly repaid me. The revival of every old 
interest in Egypt in a profounder form assures me 
that it was not the novelty of fresh sensations, the 
youthful delight in a new and picturesque life, which 



143 EGYPT, 

constitute the charm of the land. Some far-off, mag- 
netic power, some range of impressions which seem 
to be half revelation and half memory — as of a strain 
of blood which carries the instinct of kinship for 
thousands of years — breathes alike from pyramid and 
palm-tree, from the unchanging features of the wide 
landscapes and the serene quiet of the sky. It is not 
alone that the idea of a passive existence is suggested 
to the mind as possible and endurable ; for here are 
the earliest records of any higher aspirations in the 
human race — signs of the grandest struggle and 
achievement. We know the mystery preserved in the 
adyta of the temples and concealed behind the vail of 
Sais ; but we are brought face to face with the mys- 
tery of Man himself, as nowhere else in the world. I 
do not clearly know what it is that so draws, allures, 
and impresses me. 

The number of visitors in Egypt from all countries 
has immensely increased during the last twenty years. 
This winter there have been almost as many Germans 
as English and Americans ; but the latter hire daha- 
biyehs by the month and travel en seigneii7'^ while the 
former generally content themselves with a steamboat 
trip to the First Cataract and back. The expenses of 
travel have considerably increased ; for a deliberate 
and comfortable Nile trip, in fact, they have more 
than doubled. The hotel charges vary from twelve 
to sixteen English shillings a day for board and lodg- 
ing : the steamboat journey of three weeks costs two 
hundred and thirty dollars, all expenses included ; but 
a clean, roomy, and convenient Nile boat, for from 



FINAL NOTES FROM EGYPT, 149 

three to five persons, cannot now be hired for less 
than ^N^ hundred dollars per month. A party of three 
or four must calculate on paying a good dragoman 
from thirty to forty dollars per day for all expenses. 
As the voyage to Wadi Haifa and back occupies three 
months, it must now be classed among the luxuries of 
travel. Outside of Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez, there 
are very scant accommodations for travellers, even in 
the larger towns of the Delta, and he who wishes to 
examine the ruins of Bubastis, Sais, or Tanis, must 
still take his portable dwelling with him. 

We leave to-morrow for Naples in the Italian 
steamer Africa. 



PART II. 



ICELAND 



CHAPTER I. 

ON THE WAY TO ICELAND. 

Aberdeen, Scotland, July 21, 1874. 
"XT THEN I sailed from Alexandria, a little more than 
^ * three months ago, nothing was further from my 
anticipation than that I should undertake another and 
much more unusual journey, before returning home. 
But to the few who have never known any other Alma 
Mater than the New York Tribune : 

(" Stern, rugged nurse, thy rigid lore 
With patience many a year I bore ! '*) — 

her (or its) call is like that of the trumpet unto the 
war-horse. Its desire wears the shape of duty, and I 
know not how to decline that which it is still possible 
to do. So the homeward tickets must be taken for a 
month later, and, after hasty preparation, here I sit 
already beside the North Sea, bound for a latitude 
which I never meant to reach again. 

Not that there is no interest in Iceland itself On 
the contrary, the handful of old Scandinavians there 
preserve for the scholars of our day a philological and 
historical interest such as no equal number of men 
have ever achieved in the annals of the world. A 
thousand years ago they cut loose from Europe, and 



154 ICELAND. 

carried the most virile element of its Past almost out 
of the reach of later changes. But Iceland is so re- 
mote from us, in an intellectual as well as a material 
sense, that any satisfactory knowledge of it requires a 
special appropriation of time and study. The only 
Americans competent to make the journey with the 
certainty of reaping a full reward for their time and la- 
bor, are George P. Marsh and Prof. Willard Fiske, of 
Cornell University. 1 confess that I never understood 
the separate, isolated character of Icelandic research 
until within the past month, while endeavoring to as- 
certain how much of its language and lore are acces- 
sible to one who has learned something of modern 
Danish and Swedish. 

The one thousandth anniversary of IngolPs landing 
— the first settlement of Iceland — has brought the 
bleak Northern island so suddenly into the circle of 
general interest that many readers will welcome a 
variety of details from which, at other times, they 
would turn away. I shall take advantage of this cir- 
cumstance, and prepare, during the voyage, a brief 
historical outline which may serve as an introduction 
to the millennial festival. As yet, however, I can 
scarcely realize that I am actually on the way, and 
must ask the reader to be content with a few rapid 
notes of the journey up to this point. 

Although it is only six years since I last saw Lon- 
don, the mighty capital has changed quite as much as 
New York is accustomed to do in the same space of 
time. Certainly, under a clear Summer sun, with so 
little coal-smoke that the dome of St. PauPs can be 



ON THE WA V TO ICELAND. 155 

seen six miles away, with new thoroughfiires cut 
through the narrow and tangled old alleys, and gay 
suburbs planted wherever you remember a field or 
common, the city seems to have become a soberer 
Paris. The embankment along the Thames, with its 
spacious drive, its trees and girdens, is an astonishing 
embellishment ; but in all other quarters a similar 
work is going on — a niore cheerful style of architec- 
ture, greater use of color and ornament, ampler 
space and air, more abundant signs of a cosmopolitan 
diversity of taste and habit. 

A kindred change is slowly creeping upon the peo- 
ple. The Englishman (if not more than sixty years 
old) is decidedly a mellower and more sympathetic 
creature than he was twenty years ago. My experience 
during the past two years on the Continent indicates 
that it is rather easier to become acquainted with 
English than with American travellers. Outside of a 
certain range of conventionalities (constantly growing 
smaller), the former are generally very free, cordial, 
and companionable. I do not suppose that we, as 
Americans, are specially liked, but, if we are not 
courteously treated, it is pretty sure to be our own 
fault. Neither the remark which Gold win Smith was 
reported to have made, nor its reverse, is true. In 
fact, with the closer intercourse which now exists, haie^ 
from one side, would be almost a compliment to the 
other. 

Formerly, on returning to England from Germany 
or France, there was a striking increase in the ex- 
penses of living and travel. This distinction has now 



156 ICELAND. 

ceased : the cost of many things has diminished there, 
while that of others has risen there. On principle, I 
never patronize the large, new, shiny, and showy 
hotels, and am unacquainted with their scales of prices ; 
but at an ancient hostelry in London, where Nelson 
lodged for the last time on English soil, where the old- 
fashioned coach-and-four pulls up every afternoon, as 
it dashes in from the country, I can make myself very 
comfortable for about four dollars per day. And in 
London it makes much less difference where one 
lodges than in New York. 

The English railways, however, are slow to intro- 
duce necessary innovations. They have not yet made 
up their minds to check baggage, and are hesitating 
about the sleeping-car. The night express, from 
Euston-square to Edinburgh, was the perfection of 
speed and smoothness: we made the four hundred and 
one miles in a little less than ten hours : but there were 
only the old chances of sleep and rest. I believe there 
is a sleeping-car on one of the roads to Scotland, al- 
though, as no one seemed to be positive, I did not try 
to find it. In all other arrangements the English 
roads certainly surpass ours. The guards (conductors), 
station officials, and porters, are the most courteous 
and obliging of their several tribes. They seem never 
to forget each passenger's needs, nor to grow impa- 
tient of his much questioning. 

Leaving a clear, hot sky, and a temperature of 90° 
at London, we found gray, moist clouds hanging over 
the Scottish Lowlands, and at Edinburgh that pecu- 
liar pearly, silvery atmosphere which has given its 



ON THE WA V TO ICELAND, 157 

character to English landscape art. Various Ameri- 
can flags were flying, as a friendly greeting to one of 
Cook's parties, and although Donald, of the clan of 
Macgregor, did not pay us that compliment at the 
Royal Hotel, his printed poetical salutation — with a 
copy of '* The moon's on the lake, and the mist's on 
the brae," words and music — was quite as welcome. 
In order to appear as Scotch as possible, we ordered 
broiled salmon for breakfast, and spoke with a lilt to 
the waiters. Ere long, however, Mr. Cyrus Field ar- 
rived, in company with his friend, Mr. William Nel- 
son, the famous publisher, and we were then joined 
by Herr Hjaltalin of Iceland. 

The preparations for the trip were so nearly com- 
pleted that our inspection of the steamer at Leith was 
a matter of form rather than necessity. The Edin- 
burgh and London Shipping Company have most 
generously offered to Mr. Field the use of their steam- 
yacht, the Albion, one hundred and eighty-five tons, 
and Captain Howling, mariner and gentleman, took 
upon himself the charge of provisioning her for the 
cruise. Our party at Edinburgh was only four — Mr. 
Field, Murat Halstead of The Ciiicinnati Commercial, 
Dr. I. I. Hayes, and myself. The others, Mr. Glad- 
stone (son of the ex-Premier), and Professor Magnus- 
sen of Cambridge, agreed to join us at Aberdeen. 
Dr. Kneeland of Boston, who preceded us to Edin- 
burgh, decided to sail from Leith with the steamer, 
while we proceeded to Aberdeen by rail. We shall 
thus be a company of seven — five Americans, one 
Englishman, and one Icelander. 



158 ICELAND. 

Mr. Nelson's hospitality at Hope Park, his charm- 
ing residence at the foot of Arthur's Seat, was the 
crown of our brief stay in Edinburgh; but early in 
the afternoon we were forced to leave, Messrs. Field 
and Halstead having agreed to make a rapid trip over 
the Grampians to Braemar and Balmoral, while Dr. 
Hayes and myself stopped at Perth for the night, and 
came on to Aberdeen this morning. 

I have never before been further north than Stirling, 
and hence w^as not prepared for the exceeding loveli- 
ness and richness of this part of Scotland. So much 
of the old moorlands have been reclaimed that Mac- 
beth's witches would now have some difficulty in find- 
ing a place to meet. From the Grampians to the 
Sidlaw hills the eye detects no waste or ragged point ; 
all is cultivated to the highest pitch of smoothness and 
cleanness. Even the sheep and cattle in the fields 
seem to have been newly washed. Passing Birnam, 
on the left, and Dunsinane on the right, you come to 
Glamis, and the castle, surrounded by deep, rich 
groves, hath truly a pleasant seat. I looked in vain 
for a kilted laborer in the fields ; all wore trowsers. 
At Laurencekirk there was an ^* Agricultural Show," 
and a large collection of the people ; but the pictur- 
esque features of Scotland were wanting. 

At Stonehaven the railway comes down to the sea- 
side, and goes onward to Aberdeen along the crest of 
high granite cliffs, whence there are inspiring views 
over the North Sea, which is to-day as blue and quiet 
as the Mediterranean. I caught a glimpse of the es- 
tate of Urie, or Ury, ^Yhere once lived Robert Barclay, 



ON THE WA Y TO ICELAND. 159 

the friend of William Penn, and the author of the 
** Apology for the Quakers." The place now belongs 
to Mr. Alexander Baird, but the Barclay family is still 
in existence in the neighborhood. ''Barclay of Urie " 
is a strikingly noble and picturesque character : in 
him the vigor of the old Norse blood is nowise weak- 
ened through his advocacy of the doctrine of peace. 

After many delays to the train, we finally reached 
Aberdeen, a city of 90,000 inhabitants, and built al- 
most wholly of gray granite. The color and solidity 
of the material give the place a sober and rather dig- 
nified air, and there is less bustle and movement in 
the streets than one would expect, considering its 
commercial importance. It is nevertheless an agree- 
able atmosphere. You feel the presence of a sound 
and bracing element_, without being excited or driven 
at too fast a pace. I shall probably have no chance 
of seeing the environs, or of making any acquaintan- 
ces ; so you must be satisfied with this first general 
impression. 

The Albion^ with Dr. Kneeland, arrived early this 
morning, and now (9 p. M.) Messrs. Field and Hal- 
stead make their appearance, soaked with Highland 
rain, and bearing bunches of heather. We hoped 
to have touched at Wick, and carried John Bright 
across to the Orkneys; but he has given up the trip. 
We shall probably touch also at the Shetland and Faroe 
Islands, whence I shall have opportunities of reporting 
progress. 



CHAPTER II. 

A SKETCH OF ICELAND'S HISTORY. 

Orkney Islands, July 23. 

THE afternoon train brought to Aberdeen yesterday 
Mr. Gladstone and Mr. William Nelson, our 
Edinburgh host, who decided at the last moment to 
accompany us as far as the Shetland Islands. Every- 
thing else being in readiness, Captain Howling of the 
Albiojt requested us to go with him in a body to 
the Local Marine Office, for the purpose of being 
''entered" or "inscribed," according to law. The 
Albion not being a passenger steamer, it seemed that 
she could only take us on board on condition of our 
being registered as regular seamen ! — a hollow techni- 
cality, of course, but it satisfied the law. 

The officials had evidently been prepared for the 
nature of their duty, when we reached the Local 
Marine Office, for there was a general smile and the 
most hearty politeness. We signed something (I have 
not the slightest idea what it was), adding our ages 
and places of birth, after which something else was 
rapidly and mechanically read, to the effect that we 
would obey the captain, would conduct ourselves with 
decency and order whenever we went ashore, and 
would observ^e all the regulations applicable to persons 
6 



A SKETCH OF ICELAND'S HISTORY, i6i 

in marine service. One of the party inquired whethei 
there was any fee ; whereupon, the official^ with an 
additional smile, informed us that, on the contrary, 
we would be entitled to a backsheesh of one shilling 
per month, if we returned without having made our- 
selves amenable to the mutiny laws during our ab- 
sence ! This was comforting — and, inasmuch as the 
regulations were not administered in the form of an 
oath, we left, the office without any special weight on 
our consciences. 

By this time a slow, drizzling rain had set in, and 
we made haste to get on board the steamer. A small 
crowd of men and boys collected to see us off, and 
were evidently a little startled when we gave three 
farewell cheers. The only enthusiastic respondent 
v»^as a gainiii with an empty coffee-bag, which he 
waved wildly around his head, as he rushed along the 
pier, following us. There was a little delay at the 
dock gates, another crowd of curious spectators, and 
finally, between six and seven o'clock, we issued into 
the outer bay, and thence into the open sea. 

The clouds hung low, with watery gleams of sun be- 
tween them ; the waves hardly rocked under our keel, 
and so we sped northward, skirting the coast to Peter- 
head, whence the Scotch shore trends abruptly west- 
ward, and our course lay northward for the Orkneys. 
The night was exquisitely calm and mild; and now, 
in the early morning, as I go on deck, I see the inter- 
rupted lines of the far, ancient Orcades rising above the 
horizon line. In three or four hours we shall reach 
Kirkwall, the capital, on the eastern coast of Pomona, 



i62 ICELAND. 

or Mainland, the largest island, where we propose 
spending the rest of the day. In the meantime, let me 
collect my scattered historical notes of Iceland, and 
give the promised brief outline which the reader has a 
right to demand, in order the better to comprehend 
the story of a thousand years, now about to be com- 
memorated. 

The earliest history of Iceland is something like the 
picture which most travellers give of the first sight of 
its shores — a. land glimmering for a moment through 
mist and cloud, disappearing, reappearing^, and then 
hiding itself for hours as if reluctant to be discovered. 
Wherever the famous Ultima Thule of the ancients 
may have been, it was certainly not Iceland. The 
Irish monk, Dicuil, in a chronicle the date of which is 
referred to the year 825, states that just one hundred 
years before (A. D. 725), some Irish priests, sailing for 
two days and nights due northward from Ireland, dis- 
covered some islands in the sea. I am not acquainted 
with any earlier record of exploration. 

Dicuil relates that Irish hermits settled on these 
islands, and occupied them until they were discovered 
by the Norse Vikings, when the former thought it bet- 
ter to leave. In 825 the islands were uninhabited, 
save by great numbers of sheep, whence the name, 
FiW-Oer — Sheep Islands. Before this latter date, how- 
ever, Iceland also had been discovered by the wander- 
ing Irish monks, and various traditions concur in men- 
tioning the year 795 as the date of this event. The 
intercourse between Norway, the Shetlands, Orkneys 
and Hebrides, must have made both discoveries known 



A SKETCH OF ICELAND'S HISTORY. 163 

to the Norsemen. The Irish appear to have used Ice- 
land as a sort of Thebaid, where the zealous anchorites 
of that day could withdraw from the world without the 
least chance of being ever disturbed. It was a singu- 
lar perversion of Christianity which sent them to that 
Northern wilderness, to delight the God of Humanity 
by abjuring all knowledge of, or sympathy with, their 
brother men. 

Early in the year 861 the Norwegian rover, Grim 
Gamle (Old Grimes !), rediscovered the Faroe Islands. 
When he brought the news to Norway, a famous Vi- 
king by the name of Naddodd set forth to take posses- 
sion of the new territory, but was driven by storm to 
the coast of Iceland before the close of the same year. 
The mountains being all covered with snow, he called 
the land Snjoland (Snow-land). Three years after- 
ward, (in 864,) Gardar, a Swede, sailing for the Heb- 
rides to take possession of an inheritance which had 
fallen to his wife, was also driven by adverse winds to 
the shores of Iceland. He landed, afterward sailed 
entirely around the island, and gave it the name of 
Gardarsholm. 

In ^6j, Floke of Norway, in consequence of the re- 
ports given by Naddodd and Gardar, sailed directly 
for Iceland. ' The flight of a raven, which he let loose 
at sea, served him as a guide. He found the island, 
and on account of the quantity of drifting ice on the 
northern coast, gave it the name of Iceland, which 
from that time was adopted by the Norsemen. The 
position and size of the island being now generally 
known, In golf, of Norway, sailed thither in 870, on a 



i64 ICELAND. 

voyage of exploration, the results of which are not re- 
corded. We only know that he returned to Norway, 
killed a man, and in order to escape the blood-revenge, 
sailed again for Iceland in his own ship, in the year 
874. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law, 
Leif of the Sword, and the families and servants of 
both. They landed at Rejkianes (not far from Rej- 
iavik, the present capital), and there made a settle- 
ment. It is thus exactly a thousand years, this Sum- 
mer, since the Scandinavians first planted themselves 
on Iceland. 

The wars of Harald Haarfager (Fair-hair) with the 
three rival kings of Norway occasioned the emigra- 
tion of other families to Iceland ; and after Harald's 
victory near Stavanger, in 885, so many left that the 
King, fearing that Norway would be depopulated, im- 
posed a heavy fine upon the emigrants. The latter 
were mostly yarls or ruling nobles, Herser or inferior 
nobles, and the Bonder, or farmers. They were the 
best blood of the race, and seem to have taken with 
them its purest Gothic elements. They were attracted 
to Iceland by the certainty of political freedom, no 
less than by the reported mildness of the climate and 
the abundance of salmon and other fish. Some ac- 
counts also speak of abundant forests. Many Danes, 
Swedes, and families from Ireland and the Heb- 
rides followed the first emigration, so that in sixty 
years (by 934) all the habitable part of the island was 
settled. The population was then probably as large 
as it has been at any time since. 

We find no incident of general interest in the his- 



A SKETCH OF ICELAND'S HISTORY. 165 

tory of Iceland until the year 982, when Bishop Fri- 
drek and Thorvald Kodrenson first preached Chris- 
tianity, and when Erik the Red, banished by the 
Thing, or assembly of representatives of the people, 
sailed for Greenland, where he made a settlement on 
the EireksQord. The coast of Greenland had been 
seen, but only seen, by Gunnbjorn, as early as 876 or 
877. After the migration thither of Erik the Red, the 
southern coast became gradually colonized. A series 
of remarkable discoveries followed in rapid succession, 
and the chronicles of the times leave us in equal ad- 
miration of the daring of the Norse sea-chiefs an-d 
amazement that their great achievements should have 
been practically lost to the world. 

I can only give the briefest outline of these discov- 
eries; they form a separate chapter of Icelandic his- 
tory, concerning the island much less than our own 
land. In 986, Bjarne Herjulfson, sailing from Iceland 
to Greenland, was driven southward by storms, and 
first saw the mainland of America, probably a part of 
Labrador. In 1000, Lief, the son of Erik the Red, 
fitted out an expedition to seek this new land. He 
first reached Newfoundland, to which he gave the 
name of Helluland, then Nova Scotia, which he called 
Markland, from its abundant forests, and, finally, pass- 
ing Nantucket, he made his way to the mouth of Taun- 
ton River, and there built houses. Here was the Vin- 
land (Wine Land), whither, for twelve years, the Norse- 
men came both from Iceland and Greenland.* It was 

* Prof. Fiske considers that the Gulf of St. Lawrence best 
corresponds to the accounts of Vinland in the ancient nar- 
ratives. 

\ 



i66 ICELAND. 

probably their own jealousies and dissensions, rather 
than the hostility of the native tribes, which prevented 
them from making a permanent settlement. 

Some of the discoverers, especially Thorvald Eriks- 
son, explored our coast as far southward as Chesa- 
peake Bay. Thorfinn Karlsefne, another of the tem- 
porary settlers, had a son, Snorre Thorfinnson, born 
in Vinland, and I remember to have seen a statement, 
long ago, that the sculptor Thorwaldsen was a de- 
scendant of this first native American. More than a 
ceutury later, in 1121, Bishop Erik Upsi, of Greenland, 
made a voyage to Vinland, but no account of it has 
yet been discovered. In 1356, a vessel went from 
Greenland to Nova Scotia for timber, and was blown 
by stress of weather to Iceland on its return. It is im- 
possible that the knowledge of these voyages should 
not have been current in Iceland in 1477, when Colum- 
bus, sailing in a ship from Bristol, England, visited the 
island. As he was able to converse with the priests 
and learned men in Latin, he undoubtedly learned of 
the existence of another continent to the west and 
south ; and this knowledge, not the mere fanaticism 
of a vague belief, supported him during many years 
of disappointment. 

But let us return to the proper history of Iceland. 
Christianity, after being adopted in Norway, required 
but a few years to overcome the waning and weakened 
Scandinavian faith. In 996, it was preached again 
by Stefner, and during the following year Thangbrand, 
a German monk, went on a special mission to Iceland. 
The work advanced so rapidly that in the year 1000 



A SKETCH OF ICELAND'S HISTORY, 167 

(that of Leif Eriksson's discovery of Vinland), the 
lawgiver of Iceland, Thorgeir, decreed the legal es- 
tablishment of the Christian faith and the Christian 
worship. Although he was bribed to this step by the 
missionary Thormod, who gave him sixty- five marks 
of silver to advocate its adoption by the Volksthing, 
or Assembly of the People, the population must have 
been quite ready for such a change. Five articles 
were adopted, as follows : 

1. All inhabitants of the island shall accept Chris- 
tianity, and whoever in the land is still unbap.tized 
shall receive baptism. 

2. The temple and images of the Gods shall be 
destroyed. 

3. If any one be convicted by witnesses of having 
publicly made offerings to the Gods, or worshipped 
their images, he shall be banished from the land. 

4. But should he do these things secretly , he shall 
suffer no punishment. (!) 

5. The old laws concerning the exposure of children 
the eating of horseflesh, and all others which do not 
overthrow Christianity, shall remain in force. 

In 1056, Iceland received a Bishop, Isleif. He was 
succeeded, in 1096, by his son Gizor, also a married 
man, who made Skalholt the seat of the Bishopric. 

The rich and marvellous literary age of Iceland 
began soon after the establishment of Christianity, 
when the art of writing was introduced and jchools 
were opened in all parts of the island. The easy form 
of Christianity inaugurated in 1000, changed little in 
the habits or tastes of the people. The *^ exposure of 



i68 ICELAND. 

children," for example, was a liberty allowed the father, 
either to accept a child at its birth, or to carry it to a 
waste place, to perish by hunger and cold or be de- 
voured by wild animals. 

The change of faith, therefore, still allowed the oral 
sagas to exist — nay, affected their conversion into per- 
manent chronicles, at a time when the greater part of 
such literature, in Scandinavia and Germany, was 
suppressed by monkish influences. The manuscript 
literature of Iceland is probably, at the present time, 
the richest in the world ; for, when the art of writing 
was introduced, it was the only land in Christendom 
where the laymen were more zealous scholars and au- 
thors than the monks. As the chronicles were pro- 
duced, they were written on parchment, copied, and 
read all over the island. Many a low Icelandic cabin 
still contains annals, lays and epics, which have never 
yet seen the light. 

The twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries 
witnessed the beginning, growth, and glory of the Ice- 
landic literature. Saemund, who wrote the Edda now- 
called by his name, died in 1133, and forty-five years 
later Snorre Sturluson, the famous author of the 
Heimskringla, was born. In 12 13, he was chosen 
Lawgiver of Iceland, and in 1241 was assassinated in 
a family quarrel. His death marks, not precisely the 
end of the great literary epoch, but the end of its 
best production. 

Up to this time — for nearly four centuries — Iceland 
had been an independent state, divided into districts 
which possessed a patriarchal, chiefly hereditary form 



A SKETCH OF ICELAND' S HISTORY. i6g 

of local government, yet united in the representative 
assembly of the Althing, which held its sessions an- 
nually in the Thingvally, near Rejkiavik. But at last 
this semi-republican nation dissolved, as formerly the 
Hellenic confederation, through internal dissensions. 
The local magnates, many of them descended from 
powerful Norwegian jarls, gradually became involved 
in murderous quarrels. Some of them rode to the 
Althing attended by seven hundred or even twelve 
hundred armed followers. In a single fight be- 
tween two rivals one hundred and ten men were 
slain. Not only the isolated mansions were burned, 
but entire districts were laid waste in this suicidal 
strife. 

Finally, exhausted, bleeding, weary of her own dis- 
cord, Iceland fell an easy prey to the machinations of 
a small party, which, in the year 1262, acknowledged 
allegiance to Hakon VI., the King of Norway. All 
publicity in the administration of affairs, even all 
interest therein, ceased suddenly and for a long time. 
The voice of the Sagaman became silent, for there 
were no more heroic deeds. A little more than a 
century later — in 1380 — Iceland fell with Norway, by 
inheritance, to Denmark, and has since then been a 
stepmotherly treated possession of Denmark. 

Here my hasty chronicles must cease for to-day. 
The anchor drops in the harbor of Kirkwall, and the 
fairest of Northern days invites us ashore. More to- 
morrow ! 



CHAPTER III. 

A DAY AT THE ORKNEYS. 

Lerwick, Shetland Isles, July 24. 

EXCEPT the westernmost island of Hoy, which lifts 
a defiant front, one thousand one hundred feet in 
height, toward Scotland, the Orkneys are rather a low- 
lying group. The shores rise gradually from rocky 
hems, fringed with breakers, until their long lines 
merge into blunt, broad summits. Near the shore 
there are bright green fields of oats or barley, but 
higher up is a uniform tint of greenish gray or brown. 
The strait between Pomona, the main island, and 
Shapinshay is tolerably straight and tame, its chief 
feature being the gray, turreted pile of Balfour Castle, 
on the right. Just opposite, an arm or bay opens 
westward to Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkneys. 

By nine o'clock the steamer dropped anchor in the 
shallow harbor. The American flag at the fore — an 
unusual sight in these waters — drew a small crowd to 
the end of the pier, and we were all mustered by curi- 
ous eyes as we landed. Mr. Nelson, our Edinburgh 
friend, attracted a very marked attention, but the 
secret thereof soon leaked out; he had been taken for 
the Right Hon. John Bris^ht ! Curiosity is pardonable 



A DAY AT THE ORKNE YS, 171 

in such an out-of-the-way place as Kirkwall : it was 
friendly, good-natured, never intrusive, and we pres- 
ently learned how to turn it to good service. Every 
question was eagerly answered by half a dozen listen- 
ers; whatever we wanted or needed to see was made 
accessible; obliging friends seemed to be lying in wait 
at each corner, and thus no moment of our brief time 
was squandered. 

It seem.ed to be neither an English nor a Scotch 
town which we were traversing. The houses of gray 
stone, with their pointed gables and high chimneys, 
suggested Normandy. Narrow, winding streets, 
paved with large,' flat slabs, led inward from the wa- 
ter-side, and, after some five minutes, we issued upon 
an open square, deserted and partly grass-grown, on 
one side of which rose the massive pile of the old 
Norse cathedral. 

A one-legged sacristan came upon his crutches, and 
unlocked the main entrance, before we had half done 
admiring the ivy-leafed capitals of the clustering at- 
tached columns. The interior is plainly grand, and 
would be still more imposing were the chancel not 
completely walled up to the vaulted roof, in order 
to shut out the diminished modern congregation 
from the chill and dampness of the ancient church. 
The eastern part of the nave, which was built about 
the middle of the twelfth century, is a large, beauti- 
fully-proportioned specimen of the Early Gothic. The 
pillars are circular and massive, but the roof is a true 
Gothic arch. One is surprised to find such a structure 
here, where all the present population might easily be 



172 ICELAND. 

gathered within its walls. At the time it was built, 
however, the Jarls of Orkney were daring sea-robbers, 
and the cathedral was no doubt chiefly built by un- 
willing contributions. 

The limit of our stay only allowed us to undertake 
an excursion to Maeshow, a noted Pict and Norse 
sepulchre between nine and ten miles from Kirkwall. 
The Castle Hotel furnished a conveyance for all ; the 
way was hard, smooth, and of easy grade, and we 
bowled along at the rate of seven miles an hour, en- 
joying the exquisitely pure and cool air, yet (it must 
be said) a little disappointed in the scenery of Orkney. 
The fields on either hand showed us grass, or oats, or 
potatoes, or turnips ; gorse, heather, or dry bunch- 
grass occupied the ridges above them. Here and 
there some men were hoeing or herding ; sleek, soft- 
colored cattle were feeding on the short grass, and 
haymakers were piling the dry swaths into cocks. 
The sea-channel, of a dim blue, lay on our right, and 
now and then a tanned sail lagged slowly along, before 
the insufficient breeze. 

Five or six miles from Kirkwall, we reached a vil- 
lage called Finstone, which is chiefly remarkable as 
having three churches for about two hundred inhab- 
itants. In the gardens there were elder-bushes in 
blossom, and one rather stately house towered up out 
of a belt of unusual trees. Here we turned inland 
through a shallow valley, where a tract of woodland 
seemed to have been planted, with a thicket as the 
result. There was a small farm-house, with a huge 
quadrangular barn of cut stone beside it, and the 



A DAY AT THE ORKNE YS. 173 

driver, with the gravity of a man who speaks the 
truth, informed us that the cows there were milked 
three times a day, each time furnishing eight quarts 
of milk apiece, — or six gallons a day for each cow ! 
'* I tell the tale as 'twas told to me." 

From the crest of the valley the land fell westward 
to the blue sheet of Loch Of, the upper end of which 
is fresh water, and the lower, invaded by the tide, 
partly salt. We already saw the sepulchral mound of 
Maeshow, and beyond the loch the tall Druid stones 
of Steenness. It was a simple, monotonous, almost 
desolate landscape ; yet the fair sunshine and deli- 
cious air were those of the Egyptian Delta, — so enjoya- 
ble in themselves that the scenery around us became 
a secondary matter. 

The sepulchre is an exceedingly curious relic of the 
Past, and I would give you its origin, purpose and 
history if anybody had ever been fortunate enough to 
discover them. There is, first, a ring-mound about 
two hundred feet in diameter. Inside of this the 
signs of a deep, wide moat ; then a mound at least 
one hundred feet in diameter by forty in height. A 
doorway on the western side admits you into the in- 
terior by a passage as low and narrow as that leading 
into the Great Pyramid. Exactly in the center of the 
mound there is a sepulchral chamber twenty feet 
square, with three smaller chambers on three sides of 
it. The Norsemen, who certainly broke open the 
mound, and possibly appropriated it to the same uses, 
have scratched a number of runic inscriptions, figures 
of dragons and other fabulous animals, on the face of 



174 ICELAND. 

the stones. Inasmuch as there is considerable differ- 
ence of opinion in regard to the meaning of these 
runes, I will spare you the various theories. 

We returned to Kirkwall, dined, mailed our letters, 
and sailed for the Shetlands. But to-day, after hav- 
ing landed, made acquaintance with certain of the 
people, travelled fourteen miles over the misty, Ossi- 
anic hills of the interior, and made this hasty chroni- 
cle of a part of yesterday's experience, I must sud- 
denly close. The steam hums and quivers, a man 
waits to take our mail ashore, and in five minutes we 
are off for the Faroe Islands. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SHETLAND ISLANDS. 

Off the Faroe Islands, July 25. 
/^UR little steam-yacht rocks and swings so furi- 
^ ' ously that it is next to impossible to write, or to 
read what one has written ; but I will endeavor to 
make a brief record of our experiences thus far. At 
Kirkwall, in Orkney, we took on board a pilot for the 
Shetland Isles, and returned to the open sea by the 
channel through which we had entered. The north- 
ern Ork.neys are low and monotonous in outline, and 
no feature belonging to them clings especially to the 
memory. From their extremity the loftier Shetlands 
may be seen, in clear weather, at a distance of sixty or 
seventy miles. Half-way between the two lies Fair 
Isle, upon which two hundred inhabitants live in a 
miserable way, supporting themselves by fishing and 
knitting, or weaving the wool of their sheep. As the 
island has no harbor, and landing is only practicable 
in good weather, the people are sometimes half fam- 
ished before supplies can reach them. It is now pro- 
posed to remove them in a body to New Brunswick, 
and leave the island without inhabitants. 

At midnight we saw the light on Sumburgh Head, 
the southern point of the mainland of Shetland, but a 



176 ICELAND, 

dense fog soon rolled down upon the water, and com- 
pelled us to creep onward at a snail's pace. The her- 
ring fishery is now in season, and the sea was crowded 
with small craft, both from the islands and from Scot- 
land. Morning found us shut in by a dull, low sky, 
with no land in sight; but, after feeling about for three 
hours, the island of Mousa detached itself from the 
mist, and soon afterward we saw the Noss of Bressay. 
The strait between this latter island and the larger 
Mainland, leads to Lerwick, the capital of the Shet- 
lands. 

Here, at last, were bold, lofty shores — walls of ba- 
salt, hollowed into caverns by the waves, the head- 
lands split into pillars or rising in fantastic arches out 
of the foam of breakers. Flocks of sea-birds wheeled 
about them, piping their plaintive cries, and the 
rounded green summits were speckled with sheep. 
The dark, lowering sky was in unison with these wild 
shores ; the air was so penetrated with a fine, invisible 
moisture, that our water-proof mantles slowly dripped 
as we sat on deck. 

Mainland is at least sixty miles in length, and the 
town of Lerwick is situated near its centre, on the 
eastern side, Bressay forming a complete breakwater 
for the harbor. The houses of gray stone climb the 
steep banks in a confused but most picturesque man- 
ner, with a background of dark, bleak and scarred 
mountains. The anchor had no sooner dropped than 
a crowd of curious natives collected at the little land- 
ing-place. Our boats carried the English and Ameri- 
can flags, which were evidently a signal of profit to 



THE SHETLAND ISLANDS. 177 

the people, for a quantity of advertising cards were 
thrown to us before we landed, and more were waiting 
on the pier. Truly enough, Shetland lace and hosiery 
proved to have attraction for the most of our party, 
and several pounds were spent before any steps were 
taken for visiting the interior. 

It was not easy to find a conveyance. The people 
were very willing to assist us, but there seemed to be 
a scarcity of horses and vehicles. Finally we discov- 
ered a '' wagonette " and pair, and Mr. Hay, the Dan- 
ish Consul offered his dog-cart. The only trip possi- 
ble with the time at our disposal was across the island 
to the port of Scalloway, on the western side. As we 
drove out of Lerwick I looked in vain for trees in the 
gardens ; the only luxuriant growth was cabbage. We 
passed a small old fort, skirted the sea for a short dis- 
tance, and then turned inland into a broad valley be- 
tween bare and gloomy hills. Far and near the soil 
was gashed by cuttings for turf, which is here found 
in layers from three to six feet in thickness. Women, 
young and old, many of them barefooted, were carry- 
ing basket-loads of turf on their back, each load being 
worth, as the driver informed me, about three pence. 
'^ The women do nearly all the work on the Islands," 
he said. '^ The men fish or make voyages to foreign 
ports during the Summer, and spend the Winter idly 
at home." 

We saw a few genuine '^ Shelties " grazing on the 
hills, little rough-coated creatures, with good, intelli- 
gent faces. The stallions are now worth ^10 apiece, 
owing to an increase in the demand for them ; but a 



I7S ICELAND, 

good mare may still be had for £6. The sheep, feed- 
ing far and near on the short, nutritious grass, are 
wonderfully clean and beautiful creatures, black- 
headed and white-bodied, with fleeces that show a 
gloss like that of silk. 

It was a strange, lonely landscape through which 
we passed. Misty clouds hung upon the broad crests 
of the hills, sometimes sinking and wrapping us in 
moisture, then rising and leaving the country fresh 
and clear. The region of turf extended for several 
miles, to the dividing ridge of the island. Beyond 
this, there was a fine view westward over small isles, 
away to the promontory of Fitful Head, which every 
reader of Scott's *' Pirate'' will remember. Scallo- 
way, with the stately ruins of a castle, lay below us, 
and there were fields of wheat, barley, and potatoes in 
the valley behind it. This was the old Shetland cap- 
ital : it does not now contain more than eight hundred 
inhabitants, while Lerwick boasts of more than four 
thousand. 

On our way to the castle, several neat, pleasant 
women came out of the cottages and offered falls 
(veils) of the finest white woollen lace for sale. The 
knitting of veils, shawls, scarfs, and hosiery of all 
kinds is the chief industry of the Shetlands. I am 
told that the women have no prepared patterns, but 
keep the delicate, elaborate designs in memory, and 
work them with perfect accuracy. A girl and four 
boys accompanied us to the castle, the former as 
guide, the latter out of curiosity. ^^ This is the castle 
built by Earl Patrick Stewart, in 1600," said the girl. 



THE SHETLAND ISLANDS, 179 

'* It's him that treated the people so cruelly, and it's 
here that he was took. Go up stairs and you'll see 
the room where he was discovered by the smuk o' his 
pipe. He was beheaded at Edinboro' in the year 
1615." 

'^ vServed him ri.s^ht," remarked one of our party. 

^* Indeed, it wasn't enough punishment," the girl 
answered with energy. 

The castle-walls, some seventy feet high, make a 
very picturesque ruin. The boys climbed every- 
where with us, and the youngest, a fine, bright-faced 
fellow of ten — *^a poor, unfortunate orphan," as the 
girl said, — ran to his grandmother with a few pennies 
v*^e gave him, and then returned to attend us. They 
all spoke a much better English than the common 
people of Scotland. The pure Norse blood of the 
Shetlanders is apparent at the first glance ; some 
phrases of their former tongue are still in general 
use, but in face, form, and manner, they are wholly 
Norsemen. In Lerwick you often see hair of such a 
wonderful ruddy-golden hue that it verily shines by 
its own light. The people are frank and cordial, with 
just enough shyness to give them an air of dignity ; 
we found them, without exception, friendly and cor- 
dial. Few of them are positively handsome, but all 
have a rich glow of health and animal vigor on their 
faces. 

We drove back through another valley, passing two 
fresh-water lochs, which abound in trout. In this val- 
ley there was apparently no turf ; grain and potato 
fields occupied its bed, and the high slopes on either 



I So ICELAND. 

side v/ere crowded with sheep. From two crests which 
we climbed there were wide and sublimely dreary 
views over hill and firth, Bressay, the skerries, and the 
distant sea. One may travel the northward road for 
forty miles, said the driver, but there are neither vil- 
lages nor taverns on that part of the island. 

At Lerwick we engaged a pilot, for thirty shillings, 
to take us through the difficult channel between the 
northern part of Mainland and the island of Yell. 
The queer, labyrinthine yet most substantial little 
town interested us greatly, and we might easily have 
spent several days in learning its many original fea- 
tures; but the necessity of getting to Iceland in time 
for the Millennial Jubilee admitted no further delay. 
Three genial Shetland gentlemen joined us at dinner 
in the cabin, our mail was dispatched, and we started 
at five o'clock, under the gray arch of cloud which 
had spanned our arrival. 

The strait was a repetition of the same scenery. 
Lofty, dark, guano-streaked cliffs and headlands, 
haunted by thousands of sea-birds, brown and purple 
hills behind them, fresh green of grain-fields in the 
valleys, with here and there a lonely farm-house, or a 
cluster of five or six as an attempt at a village, alter- 
nated on either side. After two hours or more, the 
pilot indicated a group of houses as the point where 
he wished to be set ashore, as the open sea was visi- 
ble ahead, and there were no further reefs in the 
channel. A fishing-boat came out for him ; and some 
of us, noticing a dozen golden-tinted rock cod in the 
bottom, proposed to buy them. *'No money," said 



THE SHETLAND ISLANDS. i8i 

the fisherman, ** but you may have them for brandy.'* 
The captain consenting, the exchange was made, and 
we steamed away from the bare, dark, picturesque 
and fascinating Shetland shores, into the gray, rainy, 
and restless Northern Ocean. 



CHAPTER V. 

A HOLIDAY AT THE FAROE ISLANDS. 

Thorshavn, Faroe Islands, July 26. 
\/ESTERDAY I could only think of Longfellow's 
-^ stanza : 

From the tumbling surf, that buries 

The Orkneyan skerries, 
Answering the hoarse Hebrides ; 
From the wrecks of ships, and drifting 

Spars, uplifting 
On the desolate, raiity seas. 

There was no night, but a dull, Northern twilight, 
which increased rather than brightened into a sombre, 
moist, chilly day. An uneasy sea made our little 
steamer rock and roll, and there was no sail to be seen 
anywhere. So passed the hours until four in the after- 
noon, when, far ahead, a high mountain-isle, with 
sheer sides, showed its head above the mists which 
still concealed its base. Presently, on our left, the 
long mass of Suderoe, the southernmost island of the 
group, became visible, and it was evident that the lofty 
peak in front was the Little Diamond. Beyond it lies 
the Great Diamond, a rock nearly a mile in diameter, 
and with a sea-wall of cliff certainly not less than five 
hundred feet in height. 



A HOLIDA Y AT THE FAROE ISLANDS. 183 

Passing showers hid those grand shores and drove 
us from deck for an hour or two, but the sky cleared 
a Httle toward evening, enabling us to see the outlines 
of Stromoe, the main island, on which lies Thors- 
havn, the capital, and Naalsoe, which protects its 
harbor on the east. Here all things are on a grand 
and impressive scale. The mountains rise to the 
height of two thousand six hundred feet, and the fiords 
by which the islands are indented resemble those of 
Norway in their bold and savage character. In fact 
the Faroes seem to have drifted away from Northern 
Norway, and been anchored here in a milder and 
moister climate. 

On approaching Thorshavn, two Danish men-of- 
war showed themselves through the mist. The royal 
standard floating at the stern showed that we had 
overtaken His Majesty Christian IX., on his way to 
Iceland. It was nearly nine o'clock, and cloud and 
twilight combined dimmed the picture of the town ; 
yet its roofs of grassy turf were so bespangled with the 
white cross of Denmark on its red field, that the effect 
was something like that of an illumination. 

Our boats were lowered as soon as the anchor held, ' 
and we made for the shore. The town covers a nar- 
row tongue of land between two small bays. Huge 
masses of rock line the shore and prop the most of the 
houses, which are crowded together as if trying to 
keep warm. There are one or two small and rude 
landing-places, and at one of them a group of friendly 
Faroese assisted us to get ashore. Blond and ruddy, 
with Phrygian caps on their heads, knee-breeches 



1 84 ICELAND. 

with rows of silver buttons at the knees, brown stock- 
ings over powerful calves, and heavy wooden pattens 
on their feet, saying ^' God afton I ^^ (Good evening) 
with a tone which made it sound like ^Svelcome ! *' 
— they were all Norsemen, and capital specimens of 
the race. The town, which has about a thousand in- 
habitants, was crowded with people, many having 
come from other parts of the islands, for the king, we 
learned, had been expected the day before, but had 
only landed at two o^clock that afternoon. The men 
looked at us with some curiosity, possibly supposing 
us to be a delayed part of the royal suite. There was 
nothing intrusive in their ways ; all greeted us, lifting 
their caps, but not even the boys followed our steps. 

There are no streets, properly speaking, but a mul- 
titude of irregular lines, winding and climbing among 
the houses, some roughly paved, some leading over 
the natural rock. The buildings are all of wood, 
tarred for better preservation, with roofs of birch bark, 
upon w^hich is a sod a foot thick, always kept green 
and luxuriant by this moist, temperate air. The 
poorer dwellings, into wdiich I glanced as we passed, 
are often but a single room, in which the whole family 
cooks, eats, and sleeps. 

Wandering at random, we descended into a shallow 
ravine, down which a small brook, born among the 
inland fells, trickles over the rocks. '* It is nearly 
dried up," said a Faroese in answer to my question; 
^'we have had two months of warm, dry weather this 
summer." The road leading to the Governor's house, 
on a knoll above, had been freshly strewn with flow- 



A HOLIDA V A 7' THE FAROE ISLANDS, 185 

ers, following the trace of which downward we came 
to a triumphal arch of mosses and ferns, with the 
word " Velkoinmen ! ^^ on the side toward the sea. 
Here the King had landed and been officially received. 
First the Governor, Herr Finsen, made a loyal 
and dutiful address ; then Herr Raaslov, the Burgo- 
master of Thorshavn, followed, but at the conclusion 
of his speech he fell suddenly to the earth — and died ! 
The event was tragic rather than ominous, for the un- 
fortunate Burgomaster had been both unwell and ex- 
cited for some days previous. 

We visited the Postmaster and aranged for the for- 
warding of our letters, then returned on board to 
sleep. The King and Prince Waldemar were the 
Governor's guests, and every tolerable house in the 
place was occupied with civil and naval officers. At 
ten o'clock it was still daylight. 

This morning Thorshavn looked its best and bright- 
est. Every farmer and fisherman wore his Sunday 
dress, looked fresh and clean, and had a gloss on his 
curling yellow locks. The houses were decorated with 
strings of fish, hung up to dry, which imparted their 
odors to the air. Passing the Governor's house I 
noticed a large gray cat waiting her chance to see the 
King, as if taking advantage of the old proverb. His 
Majesty was at breakfast, and everything was quiet 
about the house. We went to the top of a hill behind 
the fort, whence there was a good view of the country. 
The gay flags waving from every verdant roof, the dec- 
orated vessels in the harbor, and the gleam of flow- 
ers from small but lovingly-tended gardens, made so 



1 86 ICELAND. 

much brightness that we no longer missed the sun. 
Fields of grass, oats and potatoes, inclosed by stone 
walls, stretched for a mile or two back of the town ; 
then rose a semicirlce of dark gray mountains, their 
crests playing hide and seek with the rolling mists. 

We visited the Post-Office, the School, and various 
other places ; but there were Danish guests at all, and 
everybody was at breakfast. At eleven we went to 
church, a neat white building, large enough to ac- 
commodate live hundred persons. The clergyman, 
Herr Hammersheim, who has done excellent service 
in collecting and preserving the folk-lore of the 
Faroe Islands, kindly ordered the sacristan to give us 
a pew. The people flocked in until all the seats were 
taken — sturdy, sun-burnt frames, women apparently 
as hardy as men. The latter were picturesque in 
their knee-breeches, the former almost ugly in a head- 
dress of black silk, tied so as to bulge out at the 
sides and to show long, pointed ends. As the crowd 
grew dense about us a very perceptible odor of dried 
fish and old leather filled the air. 

The bells chimed, not very musically ; the front 
door of the church — the portal of state — was unbolted, 
and finally Gov. Finsen, in full uniform, holding a 
white-plumed chapeau on his arm, entered, preceding 
the King. Christian IX. and Prince Waldemar fol- 
lowed, the latter in a plain morning suit of gray. The 
King must be near sixty years of age, but looks con- 
siderably younger. He has a good nose and chin, 
wears a heavy mustache, and would be quite hand- 
some but for a lack of expression in the eyes. He 



A HOLIDA Y AT THE FAROE ISLANDS. 187 

walked quickly up the aisle, nodding to the right and 
left, and took his place near the altar, whereon (as is 
customary in the Lutheran Church of Denmark and 
Sweden) large wax candles were burning. Prince 
Waldemar is a ruddy, gray-eyed, stout young man of 
twenty-one. The Minister of Justice, Klein, a cham- 
berlain or two, naval officers, Carl Andersen the poet, 
and others, about twenty in all, followed the royal 
personages, took their seats, and tlie service began. 

The hymns were sung by the congregation to the 
accompaniment of a feeble organ. Neither in time 
nor in tune were they successful ; I detected a few good, 
untrained voices, but the most had no idea whatever 
of choral singing. Then the clergyman intoned a 
prayer, and read the chapter for the day, the congre- 
gation rising to their feet as he began. The sermon 
was short and of a safe character ; it included none 
but the stock theological phrases, and probably did 
not provoke a thought in the mind of any person 
present. I was very grateful, however, for its brevity, 
for the close heat and increasing pungency of the fish 
and leather odor were fast making the church insup- 
portable. Two long hymns and another chanted les- 
son closed the services. The clergyman wore a black 
surplice, and a broad Elizabethan ruff around his 
neck. 

The people, I noticed, all saluted the King very 
respectfully, but with a simple, quiet dignity of their 
own. There was no running after him, no pressing to 
get near, no cheering, or any other token of special 
enthusiasm. Personally, I believe he is liked ; but he 



i88 ICELAND. 

represents a dynasty almost new, and possesses no tra- 
ditions of loyalty. The Faroese have always been 
more liberally treated by Denmark than the Iceland- 
ers, and they have no important favors to ask at this 
season. This is, it is true, the first time a King of 
Denmark has visited the islands ; but it hardly has a 
further significance. 

Since church many boats have come off with Faro- 
ese visitors to the two steam frigates, the Jylland and 
the Heimdal. There is a rough sea outside, and hard 
rowing in the harbor, but the people laugh as they 
pass, and make the most of their holiday. A little 
while ago the King and Prince came off to dinner, 
drawn by a diminutive steam-launch which belongs to 
the frigate. We had the Danish standard run up to 
the main, dipped the English and American flags, and 
saluted the party from the quarter-deck as it passed 
under our stern. They leave for Iceland to-morrow 
afternoon, and we shall have about twelve hours' start 
of them. 

We have attempted no excursion into the interior, 
for there are no roads and almost no horses. It would 
probably be impossible to mount all of us at once. 
Stromoe has a length of fifteen or twenty miles, but 
very little of the soil can be cultivated, and the popu- 
lation is mostly centred in the little coves where fish- 
ing-boats can find shelter. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ON THE NORTHERN OCEAN. 

Steamer Albion, July 28. 
■\T7E waited at Thorshavn until three o'clock yes- 
^ ^ terday morning, for the night was thick and 
overcast, and some daylight was necessary for the 
navigation of the narrow channel between Stromoe 
and Osteroe. There were many visitors to the royal 
frigate Jylland during the afternoon, including a num- 
ber of Faroese ladies, and, to judge from the tunes 
played by the band, there must have been much and 
lively dancing on deck. A dozen boat-loads of exceed- 
ingly merry human freight were carried to shore, and 
then the King followed, to pass another night at the 
Governor's house. 

Some of our party returned, to take a parting look 
at the curious little town. The people still enjoyed 
their Sunday and national holiday in a very quiet, 
decorous way. About two hundred of them, in their 
jackets of homespun ivadmal, black breeches, and 
heavy wooden pattens protecting their seal-skin 
shoes, were drawn up in a line around the head of the 
northern cove to await the King's landing. Tame 
pigeons and chickens sauntered up and down the 
rough alleys, and the buttercups and marigolds scat- 



I go ICELAND 

tered for the welcome were still tolerably fresh, in the 
moist, misty air. The Faroese are a very simple- 
hearted, honest, and kindly people, and by no means 
deficient in intelligence. Their lives are rude and 
hard, for high waves and furious currents in the fiords, 
and windy hurricanes on the hills, limit even their 
possible labor, and the best fortune barely gives them 
enough barley, fish, and milk to live upon. 

Thorshavn lies in latitude 62° north, yet the Winter 
temperature never falls below 14°, rarely below 20°, 
and the sheep continue to pasture in the valleys. 
There were formerly forests of birch trees in sheltered 
parts, but they have long since been exterminated, 
and peat is used for fuel. A vein of coal has been 
discovered on one of the islands. Barley grows tol- 
erably well, up to a height of about three hundred 
feet above the sea: beyond that line it will not ripen. 
The summits of the mountains, which are broad, flat 
table-lands from one to three thousand feet high, are 
swept by such furious gusts of wind that no vegetation 
can exist there. The earth and hardy herbage are 
torn from the rock, rolled up like a sheet of paper, 
and hurled far into the valleys. 

For the sum of three English shillings the obliging 
postmaster sent off a boat, at two in the morning, 
for our last letters, and then we got up steam for de- 
parture. The two frigates were to sail in the after- 
noon, and it was necessary that we should get the start 
of them, in order to secure the simplest accommoda- 
tions in Iceland. The weather, although dull, was fa- 
vorable ; the sea had gone down, the mists had risen and 



ON XHE NORTHERN OCEAN. igi 

rested upon the dark island-summits, and the bleak, 
sublime shores on either hand distinctly marked our 
way. On the east they rose in sheer precipices, over 
great caverns hollowed by the waves, wherein the auk, 
the puffin, the kittiwake, and other Northern seafowl 
were now asleep on their rocky perches. By day they 
sometimes rise in such clouds as to darken the sun, 
and with cries that stun the ear ; but we heard and 
saw nothing of them. 

After sunrise the clouds scattered, the sun came out 
in a blue sky, and the tremendous headlands of 
Stromoe and Osteroe became flushed with airy pink 
and purple. We saw them for hours ; the fishing- 
boats that cruised off the shores dipped sooner under 
the horizon, and left our vessel alone on this lonely 
ocean. The wind blew from the north-east, raw and 
piercing ; gray films of cloud crept over the sky, and 
the deck was deserted by the most of our party. We 
were fortunate, however, in having a smooth sea, with 
a good prospect of keeping it for the rest of the 
voyage. The steamer makes nine or ten knots, which 
allows us to calculate on a run of less than thirty-six 
hours from Thorshavn to Ingolf s Head, the nearest 
point of Iceland. Towards evening the wind fell, 
veering to the south, and the air became milder. The 
temperature of the water has been steadily 52°, since 
leaving the Shetland Isles. We have at last left the 
night behind us, and a twilight which is almost day 
makes the midnight cheerful. Last evening the sailors 
danced Scotch reels on the forward deck, with such 
vigor that we were half tempted to join them. En- 



192 ICELAND. 

couraged by Captain Howling, they then came aft and 
sang us some capital Scotch and Irish ballads. We are 
only twenty-seven persons on board — passengers, offi- 
cers, crew, firemen and stewards, — and the captain 
exercises his government so quietly that there seems 
to be perfect discipline without command. 

Tiiis morning at eight o'clock we were about sixty 
miles from Portland Cape, the southern point of Iceland, 
near the famous Skaptar JokuU, which would doubt- 
less be visible at this moment were the sky not so hazy 
and dark. We have left Ingolf's Head to the east- 
ward, and give rather a wide berth to the shore on ac- 
count of a dangerous reef. It is a curious experience 
for a landsman to coast along a land so strange, re- 
mote, and interesting as Iceland, while it is still 
invisible, and to measure his position by landmarks 
which he cannot see. 

July 29, 3 p. m. 
Our hopes of getting quietly into an Icelandic 
port before this time, have been miserably disap- 
pointed. Yesterday afternoon the south wind in- 
creased, the clouds thickened, rain and scud began 
to sweep the decks, and the rapid fall of the barom- 
eter denoted a gale. Our prudent captain turned the 
steamer's head another point away from the shore, 
which now could not be sighted without running 
dangerously near it. About nine o'clock, however, 
four or live distant dark specks rose against the sunset, 
over the raging waves. They were the Westmanna 
Islands, a small rocky group, lying some fifteen or 



ON THE NORTHERN OCEAN. 193 

twenty miles off the south-western coast of Iceland. 
The tradition says that Hvorleif, one of Ingolf's com- 
panions, took with him some Irish slaves — ^* men of 
the West " — as the Irish were called by the old Norse- 
men. These men, employed as herdsmen, killed and 
ate Hvorleif 's ox, and then said a bear had devoured 
it. Growing bolder, they next killed Hvorleif himself, 
took a boat and coasted along until they saw these 
islands, where they made an independent settle- 
ment. 

The gale increased in violence until our vessel 
strained and labored in the heavy sea. It was hardly 
possible to keep the deck, and we went below, but not 
to sleep. The slowing of the engines, toward mid- 
night, called me up again, and I found that we had 
entered a channel between- Heimaey, the main island 
of the group, and two small, barren islets on the 
north. Beyond the latter, dim under a belt of cloud, 
yet quite visible in the northern twilight, stretched 
the base of the Eyafjcll Jokull, one of the most de- 
vastating of the Icelandic volcanoes. Heimaey, on 
our left, appeared to be about a mile and a half in 
length, rising at each end into peaks a thousand feet 
high, with a dip of lowland between. Somewhere 
opposite to us lay the harbor of Kaupstadr {"' trading- 
port "), and it seemed the better course to enter and 
seek a temporary refuge from the gale. Bat all was 
dark and silent on shore ; we sent up rockets and 
blew the steam-whistle, but after waiting until nearly 
one o'clock in the morning, Capt. Howling deter- 
mined to push onward rather than risk the chance of 



194 ICELAND. 

being obliged to lie under the lee of the island for a 
day or two longer. Dark, precipitous masses, girded 
about by the constant foam and thunder of the waves, 
the islands seem to repel us more than the vexed 
sea beyond. We had still seventy miles to the head- 
land of Rejkianass, with the torn and rocky coast of 
Iceland on our lee ; but, fortunately, there was less 
rain and no fog during the night hours. 

The steamer bored her head into the ridgy waves, 
and quivered as the heavy-hammer blows struck her, 
Wedged in our narrow berths, we watched the wild 
gymnastics of everything that could toss ; or saw, 
through the buried ports, the early daylight strike 
through the green water. The tightness and buoy- 
ancy of the little vessel gave us faith in her seaworthi- 
ness, and as hour after hour passed by and we steadily 
made our seven knots, keeping well off the iron coast, 
which was dimly visible through driving scud, we 
coTigratulated the captain on his choice of the two 
evils. The barometer was still sinking, the gale still 
increased ; but by eleven o'clock we were off the 
sharp corner of Rejkian^s ('^ Smoky Nose "), the ex- 
treme south-western corner of Iceland, and the broad 
Faxa Fiord opened to the north. We had still sev- 
enteen miles to the other corner of the long peninsula, 
beyond which our course would be eastward toward 
Rejkiavik, and under the lee of the land. The sea 
was already much less violent, the sun shone out 
athwart the drifting clouds, and both waves and shore 
were covered wath flocks of Arctic birds, nearly all 
varieties of which I saw for the first time. The hand- 



ON THE NORTHERN OCEAN, 195 

some solan goose slept upon the billows, with its head 
under its wing, and, when awakened by the steamer's 
approach — sometimes, in fact almost touched by its 
side — flapped off over the water, screaming in terror, 
Litttle terns and puffins darted hither and thither ; 
gray eider-duck flew to and from their nests on the 
rocks, and the snowy sea-gulls circled in ail directions. 
There was a wonderful profusion and animation of 
bird-life, and the dark cliffs and foam-girdled skerries 
seemed less bleak and forbidding, after seeing how 
these creatures loved them. 

In Harbor, 5 p. m. 
After rounding the point of Utskalar, we lost more 
than half the force of the sea. Outside, the gale raged 
as furiously as ever; but as we advanced further into 
the fiord, the spray-walls of the breakers sank lower, 
lines of shore glimmered green in the sun, and the 
outlines of huge mountains detached themselves from 
the mist to the northward. Here and there a low, 
stout-looking house was to be seen ; then the village 
and church of Bressastadr, on the right, and finally the 
ncBS (nose) or headland of Rejkiavik harbor, directly 
ahead. A beacon, on the point, served to pilot us. 
Over the low shore the masts of four or ^^iq men-of- 
war at anchor showed the position of the harbor, and 
some of the houses of the little Icelandic capital began 
to loom up behind them. The inland mountains, 
coming out more clearly, suggested a colder and more 
barren Scotland ; all the features of the scenery were 
large, broad, and sublime in their very simplicity. 



196 ICELAND, 

Passing between two islands we came into port. 
One German, two French, one Swedish, one Norwe- 
gian and one Danish frigate lay at anchor, with 
twenty smaller sailing craft nearer shore. The town 
stretched along two low hills and the hollow between 
them, and surprised us by its bright, substantial ap- 
pearance. We were presently hailed by a boat which 
brought to us a ruddy gentleman, who came on board, 
introduced himself as a member of the Committee of 
Arrangement, and proposed to assign us a proper an- 
chorage. But no sooner had our anchor f^illen than 
we were boarded by an officer from the Danish frig- 
ate, who stated that we would be in the King's way on 
His Majesty's arrival, and must move to the opposite 
side of the harbor. The Icelandic committee-man 
protested against this Danish interference* our cap- 
tain remained neutral, and we kept away from the 
dispute. It was some time before the matter was set- 
tled. Denmark conquered, Iceland yielded and went 
away. We hove anchor and moved to a new position, 
and here we are, at last, free to set foot ashore ! 



I 



CHAPTER VII. 

REJKIAVIK AND THE KING'S ARRIVAL. 

Rejkiavik, July 30. 

AS soon as our steamer was fairly moored last even- 
ing we got into the boats and went ashore. There 
is a beach three or four hundred yards long, \yilli 
several wooden jetties running down -into the water, 
the rise of the tide here being seventeen feet. There 
was quite a little crowd waiting to receive us, and our 
friend Magniisson no sooner landed than he was recog- 
nized and heartily embraced by both ladies and gentle- 
men. One of the first was Sheriff Thorstenson, for 
whom I had a package of letters. It was very evident 
that all Rejkiavik was in a state of unusual excitement 
and expectation. The people greeted us respectfully 
on all sides, but in spite of their apparent curiosity, 
asked no questions. 

Smooth, tolerably broad streets of volcanic sand and 
gravel, with flagged sidewalks ; square wooden houses, 
which seemed stately in comparison with those of 
Thorshavn ; merchant's store-houses, without signs, 
yet generally thronged with people ; little gardens of 
cauliflower, radishes, and turnips; white curtains, 
pots of geranium, mignonnette, and roses in the win- 



igS ICELAND, 

dovvs, and ruddy sun-browned faces looking out upon 
us — such were the features of the place which first 
caught the eye. Flags floated from all the larger 
buildings, and a new jetty, with a crimson canopy, 
was in preparation for the royal landing. A few offi- 
cers and sailors from the foreign men-of-war were 
mixed with the crowd, taking away something from 
its distinctive Icelandic character. 

Herr Magnusson fortunately espied Zoega, the man 
of all others whom we desired first to meet. In order 
to accompany the royal party to Thingvalla and the 
Geysers, and to take part in the national celebration 
at the former place, horses, guides, and tents were 
necessary. With the usual scanty travel, Rejkiavik 
and the immediate neighborhood are unprovided for 
an emergency like the present; the King and his 
company alone have ordered one hundred and sixty 
ponies. Zoega hesitated, according to the habit of 
his race, promised nothing positively, but agreed to 
breakfast with us this morning — which, as matters 
have since turned out, meant that he was willing to 
try, and believed that he should succeed. We next 
called on Herr Thomsen, one of the principal mer- 
chants, who was most generous in the offer of his ser- 
vices, and has since given us much more of his time 
than we could expect him to surrender on a day like 
this. 

Finding that I had a letter to the Danish Governor, 
Finsen, Mr. Thomsen accompanied me to the Gov- 
ernment House, a white mansion on a knoll which 
slopes down bright and green to a little canal, con- 
G 



REJKIAVIK AND THE KING S ARRIVAL. 199 

necting the harbor with a lake behind the town. In 
the official chamber I found a courteous gentleman in 
imiform, who regretted that his Majesty's con>ing 
would lessen his power to show the desirable amount 
of attention to our party. He volunteered, however, 
to secure us good places for the services in the Ca- 
thedral, next Sunday ; and this was really all we 
needed. Coming forth from the presence, I followed 
the tracks of my friends, and presently found them 
at the house of Dr. Jon Hjaltahn, editor of the See- 
7nitndiir Frodi, a strong, ruddy-cheeked, gray-haired 
son of the North, in whose welcome there was no un- 
certain sound. He spoke English readily, gave evi- 
dence of much and various knowledge, and seemed 
rejoiced to meet his journalistic brethren of other 
lands. We had a most agreeable visit of half an 
hour, and then returned through the main street, 
seeking the house of Sheriff Thorshenson. I asked a 
man who was mending the street whether he spoke 
Danish; he shook his head but called another work- 
man, who at once guided us to the Sheriff's door, and 
when I offered him a piece of money, laughed as if it 
were a good joke, and ran away. 

By this time it was late, and twilight was gathering 
apace under the dark, rainy sky. We returned to the 
steamer for supper, and slept in delightful quiet after 
the restless torment of the gale. This morning the 
wind still blew, the dark clouds hung low on all the 
hills, rainy gusts swept the harbor, and the thermom- 
eter on deck stood at 48''. But the Danish vessel, the 
Fylla, got up steam early, and went down the fiord in 



200 ICELAND, 

search of the royal frigates. The preparations on 
shore were completed by this time, although as late 
as yesterday some persons were engaged in giving the 
black paling around their gardens a gayer coat of 
paint. Whether the town has been specially cleaned 
for the occasion I know not, but it is certainly very 
trim and tidy. 

By ten o'clock the vessels were signalled in the dis- 
tance, and immediately the men-of-war began their 
decorations. I looked for an increase of flags on shore, 
but there was not half so many as at Thorshavn. In 
half an hour the foreign frigates were all in a flutter 
of brilHant colors, and even our little Albion made a 
gallant show. The people crowded the beach even 
before the Danish masts made their appearance above 
the low western head-land. Then the yards were 
manned, French, German and Swedish officers came 
on deck in full uniform, boatswains and gunners took 
their stations, and — it began to rain. Nearer, but 
very slowly, came the expected vessels ; as the Jylland 
appeared in full view between the islands, the first can- 
non blazed, flash, smoke and thunder followed in rapid 
succession from the five hulls, the rocky shores sent 
back their echoes, and the whole harbor rang. There 
was no fort on shore, scarcely a cannon ; the people 
stood as a dark line in front of the houses, silent and 
motionless. The salute was answered by the Hei?ndaly 
while the King's vessel passed between the foreign fri- 
gates, the sailors of the latter cheering lustily. The 
quarter-deck was left to His Majesty, who stood beside 
the mizzen-mast, with the Prince at a little distance. 



REJKIAVIK AND THE KING S ARRIVAL. 201 

The cannon-smoke drifted over the water, and thus 
the national song of Denmark was suggested: 

*' King Christian stood by the lofty mast, 
In mist and smoke ! " 

Then anchors dropped, a boat pulled ashore, Gov. 
Finsen came off, and the commanders of the foreign 
vessels called to pay their respects. Our party was 
hungry and went to dinner. 

We had scarcely Been helped to a superb Iceland 
salmon, when there were signs that the royal landing 
was about to come off. The boats were made ready 
in all haste ; we rushed from the table and pushed for 
the shore, but His Majesty was already under way. 
His boat and our two were nearly abreast ; He had 
eight oars, and we but three apiece. I saw no other 
small craft moving in the harbor ; everybody seemed 
to be ashore. The Danish flag on one side, and the 
American and English on the other seemed to be run- 
ning a desperate race; the Icelanders must have en- 
joyed the spectacle, if they had not been, probably, 
too excited to notice it. Urged by words and prom- 
ises of reward, our sailors did their best, and just as 
the King stepped upon the scarlet cloth of his land- 
ing place, we sprang upon the nearest jetty. 

The formal reception by the authorities of Iceland 
and the delegates of the people was almost private in 
its character. The royal pier sloped down to a plat- 
form, between a double row of Danish flags hung 
with green garlands. The gentlemen stood on this 
platform, and none of their addresses or the replies 



202 ICELAND. 

thereto were audible at a distance of thirty feet. A 
small crowd of people, gathered on the sand at the 
edge of the water, cheered with some heartiness, but 
the main body of the people, about two thousand in 
number, kept silent, as they heard nothing. In ten 
minutes all was over : the Governor came up the 
pier, followed by the King and Prince, both walking 
rapidly and looking very cheerful and amiable. They 
were received with a cheer which was evidently genu- 
ine, if not loud nor universal. "The people seemed 
unused to such a demonstration ; in fact, I noticed 
several who opened their mouths as they took off their 
hats, made the beginning of a shout, and then timidly 
gave it up. 

After the King's suite came the chief officials, the 
bishop in velvet and satin, a snowy Elizabethan ruff, 
and a high hat, the clergyman, and the members of 
the native committee — the latter strong, ruddy, farmer- 
looking men, whose white gloves did not harmonize 
with their heavy brown coats. There were about forty 
persons in all, and the whole crowd fell in behind 
them as they advanced toward the Governor's resi- 
dence. A number of men, running along the beach, 
gained the little open common before the King ap- 
peared, and greeted him again with much the most 
enthusiastic cheer of the day. The door of the Gov- 
ernor's house opened and Madame Finsen appeared, 
dressed in a simple black silk, without any ornaments. 
She descended the steps of the first garden terrace, 
curtsied at the right moment to the royal guest, a little 
less deeply to the Prince, and accompanied them to 



REJKIAVIK AND THE KING S ARRIVAL. 203 

the door. This sounds like a very simple matter; but 
not many ladies would have accomplished it with 
such admirable grace, tact, and self-possession. All 
Rejkiavik was looking on; the sun flashed out as if 
on purpose to light up this little episode, and thus the 
first landing of a Danish king on the soil of Iceland 
came to an end. 

The Bishop, Committee, and other officials waited 
at the bottom of the garden, until summoned by a 
chamberlain in a red coat, when they too disappeared 
behind the Governor's door. I now turned to inspect 
the crowd, and found to my surprise that the women 
were much more picturesque figures than the men. 
Many of them wore square boddices of some dark 
color, a gown with many pleats about the waist, with 
bright blue or red aprons. Nearly all had a flat cap — 
or, rather, a circular piece of black cloth — on the top 
of the head, with a long black tassel on one side, 
hanging from a silver or gilded cylindrical ring, an 
inch or two in length. These rings are precisely like 
those which the women of Cairo wear over the nose, 
to hold the veil in its place. Some of the girls had 
their hair braided, but many wore it loose; and I saw 
one maiden whose magnificent palQ yellow mane sug- 
gested a descent from Brynhilde. The men showed 
only two colors — the brown of their wadmal coats and 
trowsers and the ruddy tan of their faces. Few of 
them are handsome, and their faces are grave and 
undemonstrative; but they inspire confidence by the 
simple strength expressed in the steady blue eye and 
the firm set of the lips. There were plenty of tawny 



204 ICELAND. 

or piebald ponies with manes like lions, in the streets. 
I suppose many healths must have been drunk during 
the day, for the old Norse habit still flourishes here; 
but I saw only one man who was somewhat unsteady 
on his legs, while he managed to keep his face sober. 

In the afternoon, under the guidance of Herr Mag- 
nusson, we made a number of visits. Bishop Pjetur- 
son fir.st received us, and with a gentle, retined 
courtesy becoming his station. Conversation was car- 
ried on in French with himself, in English with his 
son, and in Danish with his wife. A bottle of cham- 
pagne was produced, and the kind hosts touched 
glasses with us, in welcome to Iceland. We explain- 
ed our object in coming, told of the interest felt by 
our countrymen in this rare historical anniversary, 
and claimed kinship of blood on the score of the 
early relationship of Goth and Saxon, and our own 
later infusion of the Norman element. There is no 
Icelander — no Scandinavian, indeed — but knows and 
is proud of the race from which he is descended. 

Our next call was on Herr Thorberg, Governor of 
the Southern Syssel (District) of Iceland. Madame 
Thorberg spoke English with fluency and elegance, 
— in fact, we have discovered that the Rejkiavik ladies 
generally speak English and the gentlemen French. 
Then we visited, in turn, the Professor of Theology, 
the Dean, and the Rector of the University. The 
latter gentleman had heard of the collection of vol- 
umes for Iceland made in America — mainly through 
the efforts of Prof. Willard Fiske of Cornell Univer- 
sity, — but stated that, with the exception of a case of 



REJKIAVIK AND THE KINGS ARRIVAL. 205 

publications of the Smithsonian Institute, nothing of 
it had yet arrived. The duplicate volumes, when 
they come, are to be sent to Akureyri, the northern 
capital. 

It was stretching the hospitality of the gentlemen 
almost too far to visit them toward the close of a day 
so important and exciting for them ; but nothing could 
exceed the genial warmth and kindliness of our re- 
ception. I notice something of the same quiet dignity, 
which is a characteristic of the upper classes, also 
among the common people. It must be a chief fea- 
ture of the Gothic blood, for it exists in the same form 
in Spain and some provinces of Sweden. Such men 
will take your pay and serve you faithfully, but you 
must never forget to treat them as equals. The im- 
pression which the Icelanders have made upon me, 
thus far, is unexpectedly agreeable. I am convinced 
that I should find the ways of the people easy to 
adopt, and that, once adopting (or at least respecting) 
them, I should encounter none but friends all over the 
island. 

As for Rejkiavik, it^is far from being the dark, dirty, 
malodorous town which certain English and German 
travellers describe. The streets are broad and clean, 
the houses exceedingly cosy and pleasant, the turf of 
the greenest, the circle of the fiord and mountains 
truly grand, and only the absence of any tree sug- 
gests its high latitude. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FURTHER IMPRESSIONS OF ICELAND. 

Rejkiavik, August I. 
T CAN scarcely continue to give a coherent record 
-^ of events, for, in a place so remote and original in 
its character, everything that happens seems to bear 
a certain stamp of interest. If you step on a blossom, 
it may be an arctic plant, unknown elsewhere; if a 
bird flies overhead, it is probably an eider duck; if a 
boy speaks in the street, he may use words made ven- 
erable in the Eddas of Saemund and Snorre Sturlus- 
son. Isolation, separate development, prevalence of 
elements that have perished in other lands, make Ice- 
land a stud} by itself. Scarcely anything I have 
learned in former travel, even in Sweden and Norway, 
explains the features of life here. Anchored in the 
middle of the Northern Ocean, between two conti- 
nents, the island belongs but very slightly to either. 
But the simplest form of narration, after all, is the 
truest, and I know no better plan than to give the 
events and impressions of our days in the exact order 
in which they come to us. Yesterday, for instance, 
furnished us with a different stock, and, inasmuch as 
there is no further public ceremony until Sunday, we 
let ourselves comfortably drift along the current of 
chances, appropriating no hour in advance. 



FURTHER IMPRESSIONS OF ICE I AND. 207 

The sweep of mountain shores inclosing the north- 
ern extremity of the Faxa Fiord, and the inland 
ranges have been gradually growing into form since 
our arrival, and almost every hour brings out some 
unexpected feature from behind the drop-curtain of 
cloud which at first concealed them. To-day, the 
panorama is surprising. Sixty-five miles to the west, 
floating on the sea like an iceberg, shines the un- 
broken white mass of the Snaefells Jokull. North- 
ward of him the land disappears, to emerge again in 
sharp blue peaks, which are overlapped by higher and 
nearer promontories, until, across the last bight of 
the fiord, the bare mountains show every gully and 
ravine, every streak of snow, patch of pale green 
herbage or purple volcanic rock. Sun and shadow, 
ever in motion over their sides, make continual and 
exquisite changes of color. Inland, there is the great- 
est variety of outline, from the turfy shores to the 
horns, peaks, and rampart-like ridges in the distance. 
The air is wonderfully clear, so that the tints of the 
great panorama — which has a sweep of over a hundred 
miles — are marked by the greatest possible delicacy 
and purity. Without being deep and glowing, as in 
the South, they produce almost the same effect, and 
there are moments when one can only think of the 
Mediterranean and the Grecian Archipelago. 

We spent yesterday morning on shore. The sailors 
filled our water casks at the town pump, some of the 
party bought eider-down or photographs, others paid 
further visits of ceremony. Captain Howling, propos- 
inq; to take stones from the nearest harbor island as 



2o8 ICELAND. 

ballast, was quite taken aback by the refusal of the 
proprietor to allow any portion of his volcanic real 
estate to be carried away. The reason given was that 
the island would be gradually diminished in size, and 
furnish so much the less brooding-ground for eider 
duck ! These self-sacrificing birds make their nests 
almost in the outskirts of Rejkiavik. They are pro- 
tected by law, and show no fear of men. 

I called upon the French Consul and his family, and 
the Chief-Justice of Iceland, finding, as everywhere 
else, intelligence, refinement, and a most kindly hos- 
pitality. The young ladies spoke English and French 
with fluency. The long Winter, during which no 
steamer comes from Denmark and the rest of the 
world, has no practical existence for them, is devoted 
to reading and study, and they thus fully keep pace 
with their sisters in other lands. 

In the afternoon, the captain proposed a boat ex- 
cursion to a hot spring near the shore, a mile or two 
from the town, and three of us joined him. On the 
w:iy we called on the German frigate Niobe, to whose 
first officer, Capt. -Lieut. Von Schroder, I had been 
commended by his friends in Erfurt and Gotha. The 
vessel, of stanch old English build, is used as a train- 
ing-ship for cadets, of whom there are at present 
thirty-five on board. Our reception by all the officers 
was so hearty that it could only terminate m mutual 
invitations to lunch and dinner. Officers of the army 
are proverbially strictly national, officers of the navy 
cosmopolitan ; but I should be glad if our gentlemen 
of the latter estate were able to speak to visitors, in a 



FURTHER IMPRESSIONS OF ICELAND. 209 

foreign port, in their own language, as every one of 
these was, and to discuss Literature and Art as 
eagerly and intelligently as old traditions of the ser- 
vice. 

We pushed off at last, hoisted a sail, and swiftly 
ran along the coast, seeking for the embouchure of a 
river, which is fed from the hot springs. The wind 
enabled us to skirt the rough basaltic shore closely, 
without much danger of staving in the bottom of our 
little craft, but we failed to detect the exact point. 
There was a two-story house of stone on a broad head- 
land ; several boys on ponies came dashing down the 
green slope behind it, and a group of children at a 
little cove seemed to watch our movements with much 
interest. We found, too late, that they were beacons 
to the entrance of the hot river. Our only profit from 
the trip was the sight of an enormous seal — it could 
hardly have been less than twelve feet in length — 
which every now and then popped up its huge, stupid 
head behind us. After a dance of nearly two hours 
over the rough waves, we were glad to return and 
leave the hot springs from which Rejkiavik (the 
smoking or steaming harbor) is said to derive its name. 

Our visits on shore have been continued to-day. 
They are always agreeable, but so much alike in form 
of reception, heartiness of welcome, and even the ma- 
terial features of the residences, that it is scarcely nec- 
essary to describe them in succession. The best 
houses in the town are very much alike in structure 
and internal arrangement. There is usually a little 
hall or ante-room, about large enough to pull off an 



213 ICELAND, 

overcoat in, then the study or reception-room of the 
owner, according to his profession, and beyond it the 
salon where the ladies receive their guests. White 
curtains, pots of flowers in the windows, a carpet on the 
floor, a sofa, centre-table with books and photographs, 
and pictures on the walls are the invariable features 
of this apartment ; and in spite of the lowness of the 
ceiling and other primitive architectural characteris- 
tics, it is always cheerful, bright and agreeable. 
Rocking-chairs are not uncommon, and the guest 
easily forgets both latitude and locality as he looks 
out upon currant-bushes and potato-plants, while con- 
versing with a grave, earnest-faced young lady upon 
Shakespeare, German literature, or the latest music. 

The common people — if one has a right to use the 
word "common" in referring to such a people — are 
still something of a puzzle to me. Except among our 
Indian tribes, I never saw such stoical, indifferent 
faces. They watch us with a curiosity which is in- 
tense, but never obtrusive, yet w^hen I attempt to 
make a nearer acquaintance through the medium of 
Danish they are shy and shrinking to such an extent 
that they do not attempt to conceal it. The average 
stature is short, not above five feet six inches, the 
complexion of a coarse, ruddy brown, hair generally 
blonde and straight, eyes blue or gray, body broad, 
short, and compact, with short, sturdy limbs, large 
hands and feet — in fact a general aspect of rough 
vigor, but also of something more than that. What 
this something may be it will be my task to discover 
when we go into the interior of the island. 



FURTHER IMPRESSIONS OF ICELAND, 211 

• This morning some of our party took ponies and 
rode out to the Laxa, or Salmon River, about four 
miles from here. Mr. Thomsen, a very enterprising 
and obliging merchant, who supplies our vessel dur- 
ing her stay here, accompanied them as he had ac- 
companied the King yesterday. The salmon were not 
quite so ready to be captured as His Majesty found 
them (a circumstance I will not endeavor to explain), 
but I believe ours caught a dozen, some of which have 
been ordered to be '^ kippered " for friends and fami- 
lies. I have never tasted fish more succulent, prodi- 
gal of flesh, or delicious in flavor. 

The journey to Thingvalla and the Geysers gives us 
some anxiety. It is absolutely necessary to take a 
tent, as every farm-byre in the neighborhood is sure 
to be crowded by family and friends, and the churches 
(the only hotels to be reckoned upon in Iceland) will 
be opened to the multitude. In a land like this, where 
the tavern is unknown and private hospitality is so 
limited by the scanty resources of the people, I find 
it simply and entirely. Christian that the Church 
should be opened to shelter the weary traveller, to 
give him a roof in the season of cold and rain, and to 
protect his nightly slumbers. But we hear of so 
many families who are going to attend the ceremonies 
at Thingvalla that some prudence is absolutely pre- 
scribed. The King's guide, Zoega, promises us thirty 
horses, with saddles, packs, and provision-boxes. 

During the two days of the King's stay he has been 
gaining in popularity. His frank, handsome face at- 
tracts the people ; they find him easily accessible, and 



212 ICELAND. 

the interest he takes in all matters which concern 
them is evidently not assumed. To-day he paid a 
visit to the old Bjarne Thorsteinson (father of the 
Sheriff), who is ninety-four years old and has been 
blind for a long time. Entering unannounced, His 
Majesty greeted the old man, taking his hand. *'Who 
are you? " said^the latter, ** I don't know you ; what 
is your name ? " *^ I am called Christian the Ninth/' 
said the King. ^^Well, then," Bjarne remarked, 
^' if you take a blind man by surprise, you must ex- 
pect to hear such questions." 
AH looks well for the festival to-morrow. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE MILLENNIAL CELEBRATION AT REJKIAVIK. 
REJKIAVIK, Sunday Evening, August 2. 

THE first of the two days set apart for the com- 
memorative festivities dawned cloudless and 
splendid. A sharp wind from the north, before sun- 
rise, blew away every vestige of mist or cloud ; Snasfell 
gleamed like an opal over the water, and when, at 
eight o'clock, a gun from the King's frigate gave sig- 
nal, the gleam and sparkle of the linked flags, as they 
ran up to peak and yard-arm and down to the water, 
was something really glorious to behold. On shore 
there were signs of gathering and preparation, and 
many a line of moving specks on th® far hills showed 
that the country people were betimes on the way. 

The programme for the day consisted of commemo- 
rative services in the Cathedral, a banquet in the hall 
of the University, and a popular festival on the hill of 
Austurvelli, a mile from the town. The last feature 
promised to be the most attractive, since, after songs 
and speeches, there were to be dancing ?ir\d Jlngeldrar 
7nyklir — ^^ great flying fires." The new Constitution, 
which went into force yesterday, has not been an- 
nounced with any special ceremonies. Copies of it 
had already reached Iceland, the people were very 



214 ICELAND, 

generally acquainted with its provisions, and content 
to accept it as the beginning of a reform. The cele- 
brations, here to-day, and on Friday next at Thing- 
valla, have therefore a historical rather than a politi- 
cal character. 

We went ashore at half-past ten o'clock, and found 
everybody hastening toward the Cathedral. The open, 
grassy square around the old building was covered 
with picturesque groups of people; the lake in the 
rear of the town glittered in the sun, and the high 
peak of Keylur slept in the blue distance. Genuine 
Icelandic costumes appeared at last, and original and 
graceful they were. The women wore white helmets 
of a curious pattern, the horn curving over in front, six 
inches above the head, the base richly embroidered 
with gold, and a white veil thrown over all and float- 
ing upon the shoulders. They had also closely-fitting 
jackets of dark cloth, heavily braided with gold or sil- 
ver, and broad belts of silver filigree work. Not more 
than half a dozen of the men, in all, wore the old 
national costume. It consists of a jacket and knee- 
breeches of dark-gray homespun cloth, stockings of 
the same color, seal-skin shoes, and a round hat with 
the brim turned up. The only ornament is a bow of 
red ribbon at the knee. 

The king and his cortege had just entered tlie 
Cathedral as we reached it, and the foreign naval 
officers who had been invited to the ceremony were 
crowding with the natives into the low northern portal. 
We had been furnished with slips of parchment as ad- 
mission tickets to seats in the main isle, and the sacris- 



THE MILLENNIAL CELEBRATION. 215 

tan placed us in front, opposite the bishop's pulpit. 
The choir was singing one of ten new anthems com- 
posed for the occasion ; lights were burning in the 
chandeliers on the altar, and between the gallery-pil- 
lars ; wreaths of heather decorated the walls, choir, 
and galleries, and there was a glow of flowers around 
Thorwaldsen's baptismal font. The dull red of the 
walls and dark panels of the wooden ceiling harmo- 
nized well with these simple adornments ; the building 
wore an aspect of cheerful solemnity, becoming the occa- 
sion. The seats filled rapidly during the chant, men 
and women sitting together as they could find places. 
Then the service commenced, after the ancient Lu- 
theran fashion. In fact it was nearly an exact repetition 
of that we had seen in Thorshavn, except that the 
Icelandic language was used. The hymns were very 
simply and grandly sung ; and the " Psalm of Praise," 
written by Matthias Jochumsson, and composed by 
Sveinbjornsson — the first musical work by a native 
Icelander, I am told — produced a powerful efi'"ect. In 
whichever direction I looked, I saw eyes filled with tears. 
The repetition of the refrain : Islands thustaid dr — 
^' Iceland's thousand years," rang through the Cathe- 
dral in tones which were solemn rather than proud, 
and gave expression to the earnest religious spirit in 
which the people had come together. 

The sermon, by Bishop Pjetursson, was quite unin- 
telligible to me. It was delivered in a lamenting, al- 
most lachrymose voice, with scarcely a change of in- 
flection from beginning to end ; and the impression, 
if any were really intended, must have been much 



2i6 ICELAND. 

diminished by the copious doses of snuff taken by the 
speaker, and the appearance of his handkerchief, as 
it lay on the pulpit-desk. The exercises lasted for an 
hour and a half, closing with another glorious anthem. 
By following the printed words, as they were sung by 
the choir, I not only acquired the pronunciation of the 
language, but perceived its admirable adaptability to 
music and poetry. The meaning of many of the 
words came to me, without their grammar, making 
clear, at least, the general sense of the hymn. 

The programme for the popular celebration in the 
evening included a procession, which should leave the 
Cathedral-square at half-past three o'clock. Many of 
the people, however, hurried away before that hour, 
as if shy to take part in anything so formal, while 
groups of others lingered about the place, waiting for 
some voice of organization which never came. At 
least, up to four o'clock, when Mr. Field, Dr. Hayes, 
and myself betook ourselves to the royal banquet, 
there were no indications that any procession would 
be formed. 

At the University Building a lackey in a scarlet coat 
took our hats and mantles, and directed us to the 
waiting-room up stairs. A number of Icelanders from 
the country were allowed to go up and down, to peep 
into the dining-halls, inspect the musicians and their 
instruments, and otherwise indulge their curiosity. It 
must have been an extraordinary sight to the most of 
them. The royal pantries, extemporized out of the 
recitation rooms, seemed to attract them especially, 
and even the empty dish had its interest for them un- 



THE MILLENNIAL CELEBRA TION 217 

til the viands began to appear. By twos and threes 
and half dozens the guests gathered. Except the Ice- 
landers, the Danish poet Carl Andersen, and our- 
selves, all were in civil, military, or naval uniform. 
The Royal Marshal, Baron Holten, who seems to 
have been chosen, like his fellow Marshals at all 
Courts, for love of good cheer and good-fellowship, 
Governor Finssen, Minister Klein, Captain Malte- 
Brun, Admiral Lagercrantz, of the Sv/edish Navy, the 
Bishop, Chief-Justice Jonasson, and finally our hale 
and hearty friend Dr. Hjaltalin, were among the num- 
ber. Last of all came Madame Finssen, preceding the 
King and Prince Waldemar. Tall and stately, in her 
black moire robe, she was as composed and perfect in 
manner, as when we saw her descend the garden steps 
to welcome His Majesty. 

The King walked around the circle without any 
ceremony, exchanging a few words with each person 
as he passed. The Marshal did not make his appear- 
ance when our turn came, so we were self-introduced 
as American guests and not as individuals. Prince 
Waldemar is younger than I thought — not more than 
eighteen or nineteen — and still boyishly diffident in 
his manner. He seemed inclined to keep in the back- 
ground as much as possible. I found Christian IX. as 
frank, simple, and cordial as he appeared at first. 
What he said it is not necessary to repeat, being the 
usual common-places indulged in where both sides are 
restricted by etiquette of place and persons. There 
was no more than was necessary for politeness, on 
either side. 



2i8 ICELAND. 

Finally, dinner was announced, the King gave his 
arm to Madame Finssen, the band blew its trumpets, 
and we marched into the large hall of the University, 
which was decorated with flags, pyramids of rifles, 
stars of swords, and other warlike ornament, not quite 
appropriate to unarmed and peaceful Iceland. My 
place proved to be between Capt. Malte-Brun (a 
nephew of the famous geographer) and an offlcer who 
introduced himself as Commandant Letourneur of the 
French Navy. Next to him, at the end of the table, 
sat the King's Adjutant, Von Hedemann. The 7nenu^ 
printed in gold, which lay by my plate, announced a 
dinner such as Iceland could scarcely furnish — and, 
indeed, although served with delicately artful sauces, 
to disguise the fact, almost every dish came in cans 
from Copenhagen. The silver plate and porcelain, 
with the royal arms, the wine glasses, cakes and bon- 
bons — everything, I think, except the snipe and salad, 
were Danish. We had duck and venison, green peas, 
truffles, etc., but the rarest thing for the native guests 
must have been the dish of black Hamburg grapes 
which came with the dessert. They were as fresh as 
if just plucked. 

The King finally rose, briefly expressed his thanks 
for the friendly reception he had received, hoped that 
the Constitution he had brought with him might con- 
tribute to the material prosperity of the island and the 
development of its people, and closed with the toast : 
*' Long live Old Iceland ! " The full force of the band 
struck in with the cheers that followed ; a signal from 
the roof started the cannon of the war ships ; shores 



THE MILLENNIAL CELEBRATION. 219 

and harbor rang, and all the inhabitants knew that 
^^ the King drinks to Iceland ! " Klein, the Minister 
of Justice, next made a speech which gave great sat- 
isfaction, although — so far as I could understand it — 
the substance appeared to be theoretic rather than 
practical. He spoke of the mutual rights and duties 
of monarch and people ; and, inasmuch as his ex- 
pressions must have been previously submitted to the 
King, they were accepted by the Icelanders as virtual- 
ly emanating from the latter. He gave the health of 
the Crown-Prince, and there was fresh rejoicing when 
the King, in returning thanks, promised that the lat- 
ter should learn the Icelandic language. There were 
other toasts to the Queen of Denmark, Prince Walde- 
mar, and the remaining members of the Royal Fami- 
ly, and then the company rose. Half an hour was 
devoted to cigars, coffee, and conversation in the 
outer hall, by which time it was six o'clock, and the 
people's festival had commenced on the eastern 
hill. 

The road thither led past the prison, which is al- 
together the finest building in Rejkiavik. But, alas 
for the wisdom of those who decreed its erection ! — it 
waits in vain for an inmate. The smoothly-cut walls 
of gray lava-stone, the -cheerful cells, the spacious 
prison-yard invite some one to be culprit and enjoy 
their idle luxuries ; but the people are too ignorant to 
accept the call. On the summit of the hill above 
there is a rather graceful square tower, built by the 
students during their play-hours as a place of shelter 
when the weather was stormy ; but now it serves as a 



220 ICELAND. 

beacon for vessels at sea and weary travellers ap- 
proaching from the interior. 

The road, which was so broad and smooth that it 
must have been specially made for the festival, now 
crossed a long hollow in the stony soil, and climbed a 
hill opposite, nearly a mile away, where flags, tents, 
and a moving multitude announced the location of 
Austurvelli. The broad, rounded summit of the hill 
had been laboriously cleared of stones, and furnished 
a space where four or five thousand people could have 
been accommodated ; but not more than two thousand 
were present. There were a rostrum for speeches, a 
tent for the King, another tent which suggested a 
possibiUty of refreshments — and that was all. But 
the elevation, slight as it was, commanded a singularly 
bleak and sublime panoramic view. On all sides the 
eye overlooked great spaces of sailless sea or barren 
shore, until, fifty miles away, ranges of dark volcanic 
hills inclosed the horizon. The level evening sun- 
shine fell coldly across the vast view, the wind blew 
sharp and keen from the north, and, with every allow- 
ance for the tough constitutions of the Icelandic 
people, I could not see how much festivity was to be 
extracted from the place, time and temperature. 

Nothing was done, of course, until the King's arri- 
val. Then, in firing a salute with hand-grenades, two 
gunners were badly wounded, one losing his right 
hand. Finally, when the Royal progress had been 
made through lines of eagerly staring and embarrassed 
natives, the singing began. In Iceland nothing is 
done without singing, and it is the most attractive 



THE MILLENNIAL CELEBRATION, 221 

feature of the celebration thus far. The song was fol- 
lowed by speeches from the rostrum, chiefly greetings 
to the people, winding up with sentiments and cheers. 
Admiral Lagercrantz spoke for Sweden, Rolfsen, the 
author, for Norway (and his eloquence awoke a real 
enthusiasm), and then various others followed, the ad- 
mirable male choir of Rejkiavik interrupting the 
speeches with national songs. 

I have been pondering for several minutes how to 
introduce the next episode of the celebration. It is so 
easy for the reader to disparage, in his thought, the 
writer who is compelled to mention himself! Yet the 
reporter, as I am here, must needs brave all prejudice 
of the sort, and attend to his plain duty, first of all. 
So let it be now ! Two days ago we were discussing, 
in the cabin of our steamer, the question whether we 
in our capacity as Americans should make even an 
"unofficial representation at this festival. We knew 
that the Icelanders desired that our presence, which 
seemed to be welcome to them, should be in someway 
manifested ; yet it seemed difficult to decide how this 
should be done. The proposal, on my part, to address 
a poetic greeting to Iceland, was so cordially received 
by my companions that I could only comply. The 
stanzas which follow were written in all haste, in the 
midst of distracting talk, and make no claim to any 
poetic merit : 

AMERICA TO ICELAND. 

We come, the children of thy Vinland, 
The youngest of the world's high peers, 



222 ICELAND. 

land of steel, and song, and saga, 

To greet thy glorious thousand years ! 

Across that sea the son of Erik 

Dared with his venturous dragon's prow ; 

From shores where Thorfinn set thy banner, 
Their latest children seek thee now. 

1 Tail, mother-land of skalds and heroes, 

l]y love of freedom hitlier hurled, 
Fire in their hearts as in thy mountains, 

And strengtli like thine to shake the world ! 

When war and ravage wrecked the nations, 
The bird of song made tliee lier liomc ; 

The ancient gods, the ancient glory, 
Still dwelt within thy shores of foam. 

Here, as a fount may keep its virtue 

While all the rivers turbid run, 
The manly growth of deed and daring 

Was thine beneath a scantier sun. 

Set far apart, neglected, exiled. 

Thy children wrote their runes of pride, 

With power that brings, in this tliy triumph, 
The conquering nations to thy side. 

What though thy native harps be silent. 
The chord they struck shall ours prolong: 

We claim thee kindred, call the mother, 
O land of saga, steel, and song ! 

Our friend Magiiusson immediately took this greet- 
ing ashore, where it was translated into Icelandic by 



THE MILLENNIAL CELEBRA TION. 223 

Matbias Jochumsson, the poet, who has given Shake- 
speare's Lear and Macbeth admirably in Icelandic. 
I quote the first stanza of his translation, as a speci- 
men of the language. The italicized Ih is soft, as in 
the7i : 

Her koma born thins bjarta Vinlands, 
Sem byggjum yngstu heimsins grand, 
Thii ?ettland kappa, songs og sogii, 
A/// signa thig li frceg^'/^arstund ! 

Now, when all other greetings had apparently come 
to an end, Magnusson took the stand, and in an elo- 
quent speech referred to the presence of the American 
party. This drew all eyes upon us, and was rather 
embarrassing, although inevitable; but the interest 
and good- will of the people were clearly evident. 
When the address was finished, the Mayor of Rejkia- 

vik, Sveinbjornson, announced that the Skald, T , 

of America, would reply. All the aforesaid *^ Skald" 
was able to do was to state, in most imperfect Danish, 
that he was not sufficiently master of the language to 
express fully the feelings of himself and friends; he 
could only assure the people of Iceland that we thanked 
them, with all our hearts, for their recognition of our 
fatherland, and then closed with '^ Hail to Iceland and 
the whole Norse race ! " — which the people received 
with hearty cheers, the King leading. 

Soon afterwards the dances began ; but as the na- 
tional dance — if there ever was any — is now lost, and 
waltz, polka, and quadrille prevail here as elsewhere, 
there was nothing picturesque in the spectacle. Our 



224 ICELAND. 

Rejkiavik acquaintances were all there, and the ladies, 
especially, were very lively and communicative ; only 
the sharp wind from Greenland's icy mountains, 
wdiich blew without ceasing, chilled our very marrow. 
Before the '' great flying fires " were let off, we found 
it prudent to return to the landing-place and signal 
our steamer's boat. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE RIDE TO THINGVALLA. 

Camp at the Geysers, August 5. 
TT was rather unfortunate that our plan of travel 
-■■ coincided so nearly with that of the King's party as 
to oblige us to make the same day's journeys, and en- 
camp at the same places, but, as we desired to see 
both the Geysers and the National Festival at Thing- 
valla, there was no help for it. On Sunday evening, 
at Rejkiavik, everybody went out to listen, see, sing or 
dance at Austurvelli ; the ponies destined for us were 
grazing on some distant pasturage ; and Zoega, who 
had undertaken to get us off at eight o'clock ^n the 
morning and then do the same thing for the Royal 
expedition at one in the afternoon, groaned under the 
burden of his anxiety. All went well, however. The 
boxes with canned provisions had been packed on 
shipboard, under the supervision of two guides, and 
were already adjusted to the carrying power of the 
horses: the tent and other equipments were also in 
readiness, and only a saddle here, a strap there, with 
an extra loose pony or two, were wanting when wc 
landed. It rained by fits, in a cheerless way, though 
a group of natives, gathered to see us off, made 
nothing of it. Zoega's bright little daughter, to whom 



226 ICELAND. 

he had taught English during the long Winters, flitted 
about and made her first essays as interpreter, our en- 
ergetic leader blew his whip-whistle from time to time, 
and so the caravan finally grew into order. 

We trotted out of Rejkiavik, a company of twelve 
men and thirty ponies. There were, first, the seven 
members of our party; the steamer's cook and second 
steward, detailed by Captain Howling for our service ; 
and three Icelanders — Geir, Zoega's nephew, a dark- 
eyed, intelligent youth of seventeen ; Eyvindur, a man 
of thirty, whose curling brown hair and dashing horse- 
manship gave him almost a Mexican air ; and the 
blond, blue-eyed, ever-laughing Jon, whose genial 
temper no worries or fatigues could ever touch. The 
sturdy ponies, white, dun, or piebald in color, with 
immense manes and tails, had each and all an expres- 
sion of great docility and intelligence. I pretended to 
whisper a charm into the ear of mine before mount- 
ing, and the animal actually leaned his head toward 
me, listened, and seemed to make an effort to under- 
stand. 

Before we passed the mound of Austurvelli, the 
clouds broke away, the broad mountains beyond the 
fiord shown out in gleams of transparent color, and 
we were cheered by the promise of a fine day. Driv- 
ing the seven laden and the twelve loose ponies before 
us, we trotted along the stony promontory of Rejkia- 
vik for about four miles, when the appearance — or 
promise — of a highway came to an end, and was re- 
placed by half a dozen well-beaten bridle paths. Be- 
low us, in a bare valley, flashed the Laxa, or Salmon 



THE RIDE TO THINGVALLA. 227 

River, which I found to be very rapid and icy cold 
when we forded it. A little beyond we passed the 
first farm-house, a group of five attached buildings, 
surrounded by a square of heavy earthen ramparts. 
This last feature, designed only to keep and shelter 
the cattle, gives each beer (pronounced byre^ like the 
equivalent Scotch word), the appearance of a little 
fortress. A very small garden of potatoes, turnips 
and cabbages, and a field or two of carefully kept 
grass-land for hay, constitute an Icelandic farm : all 
else is open pasture-range, with or without much veg- 
etation, according to the age of the lava. 

It was eight or ten miles through a region of stony 
hills before we reached the second and third farms, 
beyond which there was no sign of human habitation 
during the remainder of the day's journey. Wherever 
the disintegrated rock had been washed down into the 
hollows, grass was growing ; but the heights and 
ridges nourished little beside thyme, saxifrage, and 
other low, starved-looking Arctic plants. My relief, 
in the midst of this desolation, was in looking abroad 
to the grand, lofty ranges of mountains, north, south, 
and ahead of us. The intense clearness of the air, as 
in Colorado and Ecuador diminished their apparent 
distance, while the softness and purity of their tints 
revealed it to an experienced eye. In form they were 
often extremely beautiful, the abrupt outlines pro- 
duced by volcanic upheaval alternating with long, 
level ridges, like those of the old AUeghanies. Grass 
nowhere seemed to grow above a height of about one 
thousand feet, after which the soil showed a coating 



228 ICELAND. 

of silvery moss. I have seen landscapes of the same 
bare, bleak character in other parts of the world, but 
none that so repelled the efforts of human life to 
plant itself there. 

Our ponies knew perfectly well what was required 
of them, and we had no trouble beyond the shifting 
of unevenly balanced packs. The loose animals 
sometimes strayed aside, but a dash of Eyvindur and 
a shout of ''' Ho ! ho ! " generally recalled them to the 
track. We climbed a ridge whence there was a back- 
ward glimpse of the harbor of Rejkiavik, with a new 
steamer entering. This could be none other than the 
Wtcklow, chartered by a party of English tourists, 
and due in Iceland before the Sunday celebration. 
Pushing forward, we passed two cold lakes, another 
windy height, and then descended into Soljedal, a 
lovely, grassy valley, threaded by a winding stream. 
This is the usual halting-place between Rejkiavik and 
Thingvalla, because it is nearly half way, and it is 
the only spot where the ponies can graze. We had 
now been four hours in the saddle, our legs were 
chilled from splashing through the icy streams, and 
rest and refreshment were never welcomer. Dis- 
mounting, we threw our bridle-reins upon the grass. 
This is a sign to the pony that he will be wanted 
anon, and consequently he does not wander far away ; 
if the reins are left upon his neck he considers him- 
self free to scamper at will. We all lunched together 
on the meadow, Jon, Eyvindur, and Geir coming up 
like free men to take their share with us. Here, in 
Iceland, the old Gothic sense of equality manifests 



THE RIDE TO THING VALLA, 229 

itself just as in Spain, and the stranger who respects 
it will rarely have cause to complain of the people. 
It is strange how the two furthest branches of one 
original race have retained so many of the same prim- 
itive characteristics. 

The afternoon's ride was monotonous and weary. 
We rose out of Soljedal, skirted an isolated mountain, 
and issued upon a broad, dreary upland, where our 
course was marked, far in advance, by high cairns of 
stone, erected to guide the traveller during the snows 
of Winter. Plover and curlew piped their melancholy 
notes from the damp hollows sprinkled here and there, 
and presently Dr. Hayes and Mr. Gladstone yielded 
to the temptation, took their guns and rode away 
from the path. We soon lost sight of them, but took 
the precaution to leave Geir behind as a guide. Grad- 
ually ascending, we came upon a divide whence the 
Faxa Fiord was visible in the rear and a distant sheet 
of blue water in front. The latter could be none 
other than the Thingvalla lake ; and away beyond it, 
to the north-east, another valley opened into the heart 
of Iceland. New mountains appeared ; the landscape 
increased in breadth and sublimity, and we urged our 
ponies forward, confident of soon reaching our desti- 
nation. But it was a vain hope : the country fell in 
broad, barren terraces, each of which concealed the 
succeeding one from view, so that we seemed to be 
approaching a brink which continually receded. The 
lake broadened, the mountains grew higher, the sun 
sank lower behind us, and still we rode on. At last, 
the foremost ponies disappeared, as if the earth had 



230 ICELAND, 

swallowed them up ; there was a low stony bridge in 
front, which we had scarcely heeded. A few paces 
more, and we looked down into the AUmannagja. 

The plateau terminates in a sheer volcanic rampart, 
one hundred and eighty feet in height, but split into 
such strange, weird, toppling masses that it is difficult 
to make a picture of the scene. There is a diagonal 
cleft which furnishes the only descent to Thingvalla, 
and this is called the AUmannagja, or '' Chasm of the 
People." Under us lay the valley, only three or four 
hundred yards in breadth, green, peaceful, watered 
by a bright river, and hemmed in beyond by the shat- 
tered sides of an enormous lava-field. Southward, to- 
ward the lake, stood a little black church upon a 
mound, and an encampment of tents in front of it de- 
noted the King's resting-place for the night. We 
descended the cleft, which is not so grand in propor- 
tion as it is uncanny and devilish in aspect. The 
black rocks seem to sway and grin and threaten when 
you look up to them, like those in Faust's '' Walpur- 
gis-Night." Eyvindur shouted, but there was not 
much of an echo. In less time than I anticipated we 
were at the foot. A rain was rapidly coming up, so 
we rode past the church to the parson's turf-roofed 
by7'e behind it, and Magnusson, who was that 
worthy man's friend, asked where w^e might pitch our 
tent. 

In the hay-field there was a rocky caldron, filled 
with water so clear and cold that it was rather liquid 
ice. The parson, in dress and appearance a farmer, 
approached me, and pointing to the sod, said : 



THE RIDE TO THINGVALLA. 231 

^'Planus est locust I managed to reply: '^ Planus 
et bo7tiis, Doinine I " — but was greatly relieved that 
our classical conversation proceeded no further. The 
King's scarlet-coated lackeys were cooking in a corner 
of the stone wall, there were glimpses of porcelain 
and silver in open chests, and we dared not keep the 
good parson from his rarer and higher duty. All gave 
their hands to the work of pitching the tent, for the 
rain was by this time fast and steady. The cook dis- 
covered a natural fire-place among the rocks, the sod 
was covered with rubber cloth, our chests were opened, 
and the gleam of our tin could not be distinguished, 
in the twilight, from that of the Royal silver. 

It was a confused, and — to be candid — not a very com- 
fortable bivouac that night. The sportsmen came in 
an hour later, with seventeen plover, the Royal party 
arrived about the same time, and a mixed Danish, 
Russian and Hungarian company who lodged in 
the church paid us visits of curiosity ; but all was 
wet outside of our tent, and all was weariness within. 
Good store of blankets kept us from suffering with 
cold, but I imagine none of us slept very soundly. 
Most of our party visited the famous '' Hill of the 
Law," and had much to say of its grand, gloomy, and 
peculiar character ; but I thought it would keep until 
our return from the Geysers. In the morning the sky 
promised better weather. There had been no dark- 
ness in our tent the whole night, and when we turned 
out at four o'clock it seemed to be eight. The king 
strode away with his gun, but brought nothing back. 
I saw him afterward, in the lane before the church, 



232 ICELAND. 

shaking hands with the people over the top of a stone 
wall. As we rode past the camp on leaving, he was 
breakfasting in the open air, and replied to our salu- 
tations with a piece of bread and meat in one hand. 



CHAPTER XL 

FROM THINGVALLA TO THE GEYSERS. 

Camp at the Geysers, August 5. 

WE left our friend Magniisson and several pro- 
vision chests at Thingvalla, and set off early for 
the Geysers, in order to keep out of the way of the 
greater and more important caravan. The wonderful 
plover-stew which an Arctic explorer and a Cincinnati 
editor had employed two zealous hours in producing, 
had recruited our strength ; we were not yet so damp 
as to be disagreeable, and so commenced the ride of 
forty-five miles in cheerful spirits. A mile up the val- 
ley, after passing a little farm called Skyrcot, we struck 
to the eastward into a hratiit, or lava-field, torn and 
convulsed beyond anything we had previously seen. 
In the holes and gaps w^here soil had gradually accu- 
mulated there grew stunted willows and birches, 
rarely more than three or four feet in height. This is 
called the Thingvalla Forest/ It apparently covers 
eight or ten square miles, and miserable as it seems, 
is able to supply the few farms in the neighborhood 
with sufficient fuel. 

It is a question whether Iceland was ever wooded, as 
some of the sagas indicate. No large tree trunks have 
been found in the peat-beds, and there are no local 
traditions of woodland. I am convinced that the har- 
dier trees, such as birch, Scotch fir, mountain ash, and 



234 ICELAND, 

alder, might be raised in sheltered places, with a little 
care. Yet almost the only tree in Iceland is a moun- 
tain ash, about twenty-five feet high, at Akureyri, on 
the north coast. Neither temperature nor the prevail- 
ing winds are sufficient to prevent the growth of tim- 
ber: it is more probable that the people never seri- 
ously thought of trying the experiment. 

The lava-field was at least five miles in breadth, 
sloping southward from a group of dark, scorched 
mountains, whence the eruption had evidently flowed. 
The sides of a long ridge in front were marked with 
distinct fissures, many miles in length, showing how 
enormous must have been the mass thrown out. The 
regularly curved mountain of Breithi-Skiold (Broad 
Shield), streaked with snow, closed the northern vista 
of the valley. The first fissure we reached is called the 
Hrafnagja, or Raven's Cleft ; it is about one hundred 
feet deep, and astonishingly jagged and distorted. A 
natural bridge, formed by the falling together of the 
edges, leads across it, after which a further cUmb of a 
quarter of a mile brought us to the level of an upper 
hyaun, wilder and more desolate than that of Thing- 
valla. 

This was apparently the outflow of a later eruption 
than that which produced the former lava-field ; for the 
great coils and twisted streaks of the hardened flood 
lay bare all over the surface, vent-holes for the last escap- 
mg gas riddled it like a colander, and the only vege- 
tation still lurked in sheltered ruts and holes. I saw 
one depression, the size and shape of a half-barrel, 
which was filled with the most beautiful geraniums. 



FROM THINGVALLA TO THE GEYSERS. 235 

Our caravan had already fallen into an orderly man- 
ner of travel. Eyvindur and Jon rode ahead, taking 
charge of the baggage and loose ponies. While the 
latter kept to the track the guides sang melancholy 
native songs, or passed the horn of snuff from one 
nose to another. This implement, like an old-fash- 
ioned powder horn, has a neck which holds the proper 
charge : the man throws his head back with a sudden 
jerk, applies the horn to his nostril, and receives the 
contents. The process is repeated at least a dozen 
times a day, and the result is an upper lip which only 
the most reckless passion could tolerate as the agent 
of a kiss. 

The boy Geir rode beside me, eager to learn some- 
thing more of a world he had never seen. When 
puzzled to understand some English word, or at a loss 
to find the one he wanted, he would generally ask \ 
'^Whatisit in Latin?" Presently he surprised me 
by the question, ^' What do you think of Byron as a 
poet ? " ^' He is one of the very first in modern Eng- 
lish literature," I answered. *' Is not the Song of the 
Spirits, in Manfred, considered very fine ? " Geir asked 
again. ** I like it very much." 

Happening to mention German, the boy began to 
talk the language, with about as much fluency as 
English. He had read Schiller^s ballads and The Rob- 
bers, which latter seemed to have made a great im- 
pression upon his mind ; but he was most desirous to 
hear something of the works with which he was still 
unacquainted. '' I have heard that Goethe's Faust is 
very difficult to understand," he said; ^'so I have not 



236 ICELAND. 

« 
yet tried to read it, but I hope to be able in a year or 

two more. Shakka-spey-arr " — so he pronounced the 
name once, but as soon as I corrected him, always 
properly afterwards — ** Shakespeare is also difficult, 
but I have read King Lear^ and mean to read all the 
other plays. Is Faust anything like Shakespeare in 
style ? " And this was a poor, fatherless boy of sev- 
enteen, with only an Icelandic education ! Modest, 
sweet-tempered, warm with a tireless eagerness for 
knowledge, not one of our party could help loving 
Geir, and feeling the sincerest interest in his fortunes. 

In spite of the tremendous desolation of the scenery, 
it was far more varied and grand than that between 
Rejkiavik and Thingvalla. The sky cleared as we 
reached the farther end of the lava field, at the corner 
of a mossy mountain with a bare black summit, where 
the path descended through a rocky ravine to a stretch 
of green meadow land below. Far to the east, fifty or 
sixty miles away, the horizon was bounded by a long 
line of snow-topped mountains. ^^Hekla!" cried 
Evindur, pointing to a broad, humpy mass of snow 
which rose considerably above the general level. The 
summit was still hidden, but the mantle [heklu means 
^*a mantle" in Icelandic), of snow was so unbroken 
and extended so far down the sides that the perfect 
quiet of the volcano was manifest. There has been 
no eruption since 1845. 

While the guides rearranged some shifted packs on 
the meadow we rode to a cave at the base of the 
mountains. Over it there was an abrupt wall of 
porphyritic rock, in which we could see sparkling 



FROM THINGVALLA TO THE GEYSERS, 237 

veins of obsidian. The peaks beyond — apparently 
extinct volcanic cones — showed the most extraordinary 
forms, and were almost as black as coal. We all no- 
ticed a resemblance to Dore's illustrations of Dante, 
except that here there was a far wilder and gloomier 
originality. The cave, which was low-roofed, rough, 
wet, and altogether disagreeable, had been used as a 
sheepfold for ages. Many unknown individuals, shep- 
herds, or passing travellers, had laboriously carved 
their initials about the entrance. In one place we 
found (or fancied) the date of 1396, but, with the 
best will in the world, I could discover no Runic char- 
acters. 

Beyond the valley, the path struck across a high, 
hilly region towards another mountain-cape, about 
eight miles distant. Here, however, many thousands 
of years have crumbled the lava, and the red, mellow 
volcanic soil, a foot or two deep, was well covered 
with grass, herbs, and heather. The piping of plover 
and curlew seduced our two sportsmen from the 
track, while \ve kept on, enjoying the gleams of sun- 
shine and comparative w^arrnth. The thermometer 
would have shown a temperature of from 60° to 65° ; 
during the nights it fell to 48°. 

As we approached the mountain, the eastern range, 
including Hekla, which had been hidden for two 
hours, again came into view, and this time free from 
cloud. '' We don't often see Hekla so clear as he is 
now," said the guide. It was a lonely but a surpris- 
ingly peaceful and pastoral landscape. From the 
height where we rode we overlooked a grassy plain, 



238 ICELAND. 

some twenty miles in breadth, sparkling here and 
there with little lakes or the winding courses of rivers. 
Be3^ond it were low, softly undulating hills, over which 
Hekla towered — or rather heaved — broad, heavy in 
outline, and only beautiful because the sun made a 
golden gleam of its snow. Toward the sea some blue 
scattered peaks rose like islands; far to the north, 
where the great plain came down from the very heart 
of Iceland, there were glimpses of remoter snows and 
glaciers. But out of the green level, fifteen miles 
away, there suddenly shot a silvery column of steam, 
at least a hundred feet in height. " The Geysers ! " 
some one cried; but no ! it was a great boiling spring, 
or caldron, Eyviadur said, which never sends up jets 
of water. It was the only thing in the vast view which 
resembled a sign of human life — and was really a men- 
ace against life. 

We were to have made our halt at a farm called 
Laegr, where a flag was put up in hoaor of the King's 
passing ; but the guides declared that rinderpest or 
epizooty had just broken out there, and we must go 
further. After fording some swift, icy streams in the 
valley beyond, we stopped near a church and two farm- 
steads, and enjoyed a most welcome rest of an hour. 
There were, as yet, no signs of the Royal caravan. 

The route, during the afternoon, follow^ed the bases 
of the mountains which inclose the great valley where- 
in the Geysers lie on the west. It keeps above the 
meadows as much as possible, to avoid the marshy 
soil. We encountered but one large stream, which 
came thundering down through the lower hills, be- 



FROM THINGVALLA'TO THE GEYSERS. 239 

tvveen dark piles of rocks. The road reaches it at a 
volcanic chasm, split directly up the middle of its bed, 
the water on each side falling fifteen feet. This is 
crossed by a little wooden bridge, to reach which the 
ponies must first stem the furious current. It looks 
hazardous, but the beasts are so sure-footed that the 
passage is perfectly safe. Just below the cataract there 
are two of the most perfect natural abutments that 
ever were seen, and a span of thirty feet w^ould con- 
nect them. The stream is called Brygga — the Bridge 
River — for it is probably the only stream in Iceland 
so distinguished. 

It was seven o'clock; the pale, level light slowly rose 
on the eastern mountains, and we were getting to be 
wretchedly weary, when another mountain corner was 
turned, and over the plain, at the foot of a dark, iso- 
lated hill, about five miles off, rose a dozen tall col- 
umns of steam. The Geysers, at last ! ^Mt is spout- 
ing ! " cried Jon, as one jet shot higher than the 
others. Messrs. Field and Halstead pushed on at a 
gallop ; I j)referred keeping with the baggage, and 
soon noticed that the appearance was steam and not 
water. But presently Eyvindur came, proposing that 
I should ride forward with him. My pony that after- 
noon, although the smallest of the whole lot, was a 
most restive, mettlesome creature ; a word and a 
touch sent him off like a bolt. We galloped a couple 
of miles, reached and passed the two leaders, and 
should have been first at the ''meet," had not the 
path struck into the meadows. Here the tracks were 
worn deeply into the soil, and my feet struck the turf 



240 ICELAND. 

on each side as the pony galloped. It was no less 
hazardous than disagreeable ; but the stubborn ani- 
mal, after trying to resist the rein, suddenly threw 
himself on his haunches. As I had not dared to rely 
much upon the stirrups I was flung over his head, and 
came down with that sort of a shock which is violent 
in proportion to one's weight. But neither the pony's 
native goodness nor his intelligence failed him. I saw 
a hoof almost over my face, coming down ; but, quick 
as lightning, he sharply bent his knee, threw the foot 
backward with all his force, and brought it upon the 
turf beside me. Then he quietly waited for me to 
rise and mount ; but Ey vindur insisted that I should 
take his taller animal. 

There is a byre, or farmstead, at the foot of the hill; 
the hot springs lie just beyond, along the eastern base, 
and not much above the level of the plain. A space 
four hundred yards in length by one hundred in 
breadth includes the two Geysers, the Strokr, and 
about twenty smaller springs. We rode between the 
latter, which were simply boiling and roaring from 
holes in a bed of silicious rock. Beyond themi came 
the Strokr, a larger and more furious pit, then a patch 
of green turf, on which the tents were already pitched 
for the Royal party, and beyond it a low, crater-like 
elevation, half-veiled in steam, which I was rather re- 
luctant to recognize as the Great Geyser. But there 
was no other caldron beyond it ; half a dozen men 
were standing about the brim — yet it looked so natu- 
ral and harmless ! 

Some of the King's attendants, while advising us 



FROM THINGVALLA TO THE GEYSERS. 241 

where to encamp, stated that the Geyser had spouted 
once that morning and twice the day before. This 
was unwelcome news, for the guides had ah-eady told 
us how capricious it could be, sometimes going off sev- 
eral times in quick succession, and then remaining sul- 
lenly quiet for a week. There was no time to think 
of that now; our baggage arrived, and after eleven 
hours in the saddle, we sighed only for rest and food. 
The tent was pitched on a turfy slope near the highest 
boiling spring (which is close beside the Great Geyser, 
but seems to have no connection with it), and Geir 
was sent to a village three miles off to procure us fuel, 
hay for bedding, and fresh milk. At my suggestion 
the cook placed some canned meats in the spring, 
which prepared them for use in a very short space of 
time. Half an hour later the King arrived, and the 
whole place became, to the eye, a sort of holiday pic- 
nic ground, where the steaming pillars suggested only 
cooking. 

16 



CHAPTER XII. 

WAITING FOR THE GREAT GEYSER TO SPOUT. 

Thingvalla, August 7. 

I SLEPT soundly the night after our arrival at the 
Geysers, but some members of our party were 
excited and restless. Toward miorning, there were 
several mysterious underground thumps, which sent 
them posting to the Great Geyser's brim ; but only 
denser steam and a heavier overflow of water followed. 
The scene in the morning was curious. We took our 
toilet articles, and went, half-dressed, to the hollow be- 
tween the Geyser and the spring, where the surplus 
overthrow is shallow and lukewarm. It was already 
occupied ; a royal chamberlain was scooping up water 
in his hands, an admiral was dipping his tooth-brush 
into the stream, a Copenhagen professor was labori- 
ously shaving himself by the aid of a looking-glass 
stuck in a crack of the crater, and the King^ neat 
and fresh as if at home, stood on the bank and amused 
himself with the sight. The quality of the water is 
exquisite ; it is like down and velvet to the skin, soap 
becomes a finer substance in it, and the refreshment 
given to the hands and face seems to permeate the 
whole body. If one could only have a complete bath I 
A day's labor would make a pool sufficient therefor, 
yet the idea has never occurred to a single soul, native 
or foreign ! 



WAITING FOR THE GREAT GEYSER. 243 

I did not dare to venture a quarter of a mile away 
from the Geyser, during the whole day. We all fell 
into a condition of nervous expectancy which could not 
be escaped, comical as were some of its features. 
There was a pile of turf — perhaps a cart-load — beside 
the Strokr, which lay just below our tent, and we were 
told that the caldron would be compelled to spout 
for the King, as soon as he had finished his breakfast; 
so we sat down contented to the second plover-stew 
which Mr. Gladstone and Dr. Hayes had provided for 
us. The farmer from whom we had procured fuel 
sent us several bottles of delicious cream, and a large 
salmon for dinner. 

The Strokr is a pit about five feet in diameter, and 
eight feet deep to the ordinary level of the water, 
which is always in a furious, boiling state. Prof. 
Steenstrup assured me that it is not connected with 
the Great Geyser, as the analysis of the water shows a 
difference ; but the people are equally convinced that 
it is, and that to provoke its activity diminishes the 
chances of the former spouting. However this may 
be, the royal command was given. The pile of turf 
was pitched into the hole, and all gathered around, at 
a safe distance, waiting to see what would follow. 

For ten minutes we noticed nothing except a dimi- 
nution of steam : then the water gushed up to the level 
of the soil, in a state of violent agitation ; subsided, 
rose again, spouted the full breadth of the hole to a 
height of fifteen, or twenty feet, sank back, and finally, 
after another moment of quiet, shot a hundred feet 
into the air. The boiled turf, reduced to the consist- 



244 ICELAND. 

ency of gravel, filled the jet, and darkened its central 
shaft, but I did not find that it diminished the beauty 
of the phenomenon. Jet after jet followed, sending 
long plume-like tufts from the summit and sides of the 
main column, around which the snowy drifts of steam 
whirled and eddied with a grace so swift that the eye 
could scarcely seize it. At such moments the base 
was hidden, and the form of the fountain was like a 
bunch of the Pampas grass in blossom — a cluster of 
feathery panicles of spray. 

The performance lasted nearly ten minutes, and 
was resumed again two or three times after it seemed 
to have ceased. Two or three of the last spoutings 
were the highest, and some estimated them at fully 
one hundred and twenty feet. Finally, the indignant 
caldron threw out the last of its unclean emetic, and 
sank to its normal level. The King, who had turned 
aside to salute our company, was in the act of express- 
ing to me his admiration of the scene, when the Little 
Geyser gave sudden signs of action. There was a 
rush of the whole party ; His Majesty turned and ran 
like a boy, jumping over the gullies and stones with 
an agility which must have bewildered the heavy offi- 
cials, who were compelled to follow as they best could. 
It was a false alarm. The Little Geyser let off a few 
sharp discharges of steam, as if merely to test the 
pressure, and then, as if satisfied, resumed its indo- 
lent, smoky habit. 

The cone of the Great Geyser is not more than 
twenty feet high, and appears to have been gradually 
formed by the deposit of the silicious particles which 



WAITING FOR THE GREAT GEYSER, 245 

the water holds in solution. The top is like a shallow 
wash-bowl thirty feet in diameter, full to the brim, and 
slowly overflowing on the eastern side. In the centre 
of this bowl there is a well, indicated by the intense 
blue-green of the water, and apparently eight or ten 
feet in diameter. It has been sounded, and bottom — 
or, at least, a change of direction —reached at the 
deptli of eighty- five feet. At the edge, where the 
water is shallow, one can dip his fingers in quickly 
without being scalded. Small particles placed in the 
overflow are completely incrusted with transparent 
silex in a day or two. Prof. Steenstrup informed me 
that the water has important healing properties. The 
steam has an odor of sulphuretted hydrogen, but the 
taste thereof is so soon lost that where the stream 
becomes cold, we used it for drinking and making 
coffee. 

I shall never forget that calm, sublime day at the 
Geysers. After reading many descriptions, I was 
never less prepared for the reality of the scene. In- 
stead of a dreary, narrow volcanic valley, here was a 
landscape bounded on the west by mountains, but to 
the north, east, and south, only to be spanned by a 
radius of fifty miles. Near us, a quiet, grass-roofed 
farmstead ; toward the sea, meadows and gleams of 
rivers ; in front, the broad green plain, its inclosing 
hills and Hekla rising lonely above them; northward, 
a church and neighboring byres, a smooth grassy 
ridge beyond, the snow-streaked pyramid of the Blaf- 
jall (Blue Mountain), and far in the distance the lumi- 
nous, icy peaks of the Arna JokuU. From our tent 



246 ICELAND. 

the noise of the boiling waters could not be heard ; 
the steam ascended quickly, soon dissipated in the 
light wind, and the expression of the scene before me, 
as I watched it for hours, lying on the soft turf of the 
hill-side, was one of perfect peace and repose. 

At half-past one o'clock, there came a dull thud, 
felt rather than heard ; then another, and another, 
and we all rushed towards the Great Geyser. Before 
any one reached it, however, the noises ceased ; the 
water rose a foot or so, giving out dense volumes of 
steam, but in five minutes it became quiet as before. 
The King and his attendant officials strayed up the 
hill, and there the former devoted some time to carv- 
ing the subjoined rune upon one of the rocks : 



© 



1874. 

There were various small parties of the native pop- 
ulation at the Geysers during the day ; but fewei 
than might have been expected, even taking into ac- 
count the sparse settlement in this part of Iceland. 
They were coarse, solidly built figures, the bodies much 
larger than the legs, the hair thick and blond, and 
the faces broad, weather-beaten, and apparently ex- 
pressionless. I saw half a dozen — four men and two 
women — stand vacantly grinning at the King as he 
passed them, and even when he politely saluted them, 
the men hesitated, in awkward shyness, before they 
even touched their hats. Another, to whom he was 



WAITING FOR THE GREA T GE YSER. 247 

speaking in a kindly manner, with his hand upon the 
man's shoulder, suddenly remembered that some 
mark of respect was necessary, and snatched off his 
hat with as much haste as if there had been a hornet 
inside of it. 

Among the people were several sick persons, who 
had made long journeys in the hope of finding a 
physician in the King's suite. Disappointed in this, 
they turned to Dr. Hays and our jovial Rejkiavik 
friend, Dr. Hjaltalin. The first case was a man suf- 
fering from Bright's disease, for which, unfortunately, 
we had no medicines. But the medicine-chest, when 
it was opened, attracted our visitors with a singular 
power. Men and women crowded around, gazing 
with eager interest and (as it seemed to me) longing 
upon the bottles of pills and potions. I offered a 
quinine pill to a woman, and she instantly took and 
chewed it, without ever asking a question. To con- 
firm a faith so profound, I felt obliged to take two of 
the pills myself. 

Soon afterwards there came a married couple, the 
mother carrying a baby which, as it needed but a 
glance to see, was almost dying of croup. They had 
carried the poor child on horseback for five hours, in 
the hope of finding relief. There was no time to be 
lost ; hot baths and poultices were ordered at the 
byre near at hand, and in the mean time an opiate 
was administered. The gasping and writhing of the 
child was too much for those strong Icelandic men. 
The mother stood calm and firm, holding it ; but 
Zoega ran away in one direction and Eyvindur in an- 



248 ICELAND, 

other, crying like children, and the farmers turned 
aside their heads to hide their tears. 

At the byre nothing could exceed the kindness of 
the farmer's family, — in fact, of all who could help. 
The King's purveyor furnished white bread for a poul- 
tice ; a hot bath was made ready, and the father stuffed 
the child's clothes into his bosom to keep them warm* 
for it. All night the people watched with it, and the 
next morning everybody looked happy, on hearing 
that its condition had somewhat improved. 

The next case was a boy with hip disease, for whom 
little could be done, though the Doctor constructed a 
temporary support for his foot. The people invariably 
asked how much they should pay, and gratefully shook 
hands when payment was declined. I made an effort 
to talk with a group of farmers, finding them ready 
enough, only a little embarrassed at the start; but 
when I asked: ^^ Do you know Saemund's Edda ! " 
there was an instant flash and flame in their faces, 
and all shyness vanished. The Njal and Volsunga 
Sagas, Snorre Sturlusson, with a score of obscurer 
Sagas of which I had never heard, were eagerly men- 
tioned and discussed. It was remarkable to see their 
full knowledge of Icelandic literature, and their vital 
interest in it. 

*^Do you know who first discovered America?" 
I asked. 

^^Yes, yes!" they all cried, in a body; ^* it was 
Leif, the son of Erik the Red." 

**When was it?" 

^* About the year looo. And there was Thorfmn 



V/AITING FOR THE GREA T GE YSER. 249 

Karlsefne, who went afterward, and Thorwald. They 
called the country Vinland." 

'' We know it/' said I. *^ I am a Vinlander.'^ 
They silently stretched out their hands and shook 
mine. An instinct of the true nature of the people 
arose in me. Within an hour I had seen what tender- 
ness, goodness, knowledge, and desire for knowledge 
are concealed under their rude, apathetic exteriors. To 
meet them was like being suddenly pushed back to 
the thirteenth century ; for all the rich, complex, 
later-developed life of the race has not touched them. 
More than ever I regretted my ignorance of the lan- 
guage, without knowing which no stranger can possi- 
bly understand their character. 

At half-past four there came a repetition of Geyser 
thumps, louder and more rapid than the first time, and 
at eight o'clock a third manifestation. We fondly 
hoped that these were signs of increased activity, 
which would soon bring about an outburst. Our 
excitement increased to such an extent that, although 
watches had been set for the King's sake, Messrs. 
Halstead, Hayes, and Gladstone volunteered to keep 
independent watch for us. The two former passed 
half the night sitting on the edge of the Geyser-basin. 
They were once scared away by a thump which threat- 
ened to split the rocky shell under their feet, but 
nothing followed except a violent overflow of water. I 
heard the noises twice during the night, and waited 
vainly for a call ; the twilight was so bright that the 
spectacle would have been visible at any hour — had it 
come. 



250 ICELAND, 

The Festival at Thingv^alla obliged us all to leave 
the next day. Just as the King's tents were struck, 
the subterranean noises began once more ; there 
seemed to be a malicious, tantalizing demon :.t work, 
to excite and delude us. As a last compensation 
another pile of sods was hurled into the Strokr, and we 
all gathered about it. An English party had arrived 
the day before, and the artist of The Lo?ido7i Illus- 
trated News stood on a mound, with pencil and sketch- 
book, to record the result. We waited a quarter of an 
hour and nothing came; the King, who had mean- 
while joined our American party, informed us that the 
Little Geyser would spout in a few minutes. What 
authority he had I do not know, but it w^as bad ; the 
Little Geyser kept as quiet as a lamb. 

Half an hour passed, and the Strokr took not the 
least notice of the irritation. The royal party mounted 
and rode away with many a longing, lingering look 
behind — when, just as they were passing out of sight 
around the corner of the hill, and we were turning 
tow^ard our tent, the Strokr went off like a cannon. 
The wonderful, plumy bursts were repeated, for a 
shorter space of time than before, but equally lofty and 
violent. 

It seemed hard to leave the spot, for the day we had 
spent there was perfect in its way. All afternoon 
there had been a lid of cloud over the sky, lifted, all 
around, over an intensely clear horizon. The broad, 
saddle-backed top of Hekla gleamed resplendent in the 
level evening light — at first gold, then amber, then 
silver against the rosy air, and finally a strange shining 



WAITING FOR THE GREAT GEYSER. 251 

pearly green, a tint I never before saw. The far- 
away Jokulls kept the sunshine on their glaciers for a 
full hour after it had disappeared from the rest of the 
landscape, and it was difficult to believe that they rose 
out of the lifeless deserts of the interior. '^ I never 
knew Hekla to be so clear, or the Geysers so quiet," 
said Prof. Steenstrup, who had twice before visited the 
spot. 

Dr. Hayes and Mr. Gladstone, with the Plnglish 
party, remained behind all day, and reached Thing- 
valla this morning after riding all night. They were 
only rewarded with the continual subterranean thump- 
ing, and took their revenge upon the Strokr, which 
they so incensed that he spouted half a dozen times. 

'^The pack-ponies were loaded; we got into our 
saddles, moved reluctantly down the grassy slope, and 
turned our faces avvay from the lazy volumes of steam. 
Then — there was a sudden concussion in the earth, a 
momentary quivering followed by a strange, hissing 
sound. As we sprang from the ponies, the basin of 
the Geyser swelled and cast out a great volume of 
water. Out of the centre a solid crystal mass was 
thrust up to the height of twenty feet ; then, before it 
wholly fell back, the central jet shot one hundred and 
fifty feet into the air. Again and again this huge 
liquid shaft, sparkling with indescribable glory in the 
morning sun, was hurled on high. Amazement, awe, 
terror — " 

This, or something like it, was what I hoped to be 
able to write, up to the very last moment. But the 
truth must be told: the Great Geyser would not spout. 



252 ICELAND. 

I must have turned in my saddle a hundred times 
while the steam-columns were visible, half-fearing, 
half-expecting a sudden increase of their volume, — 
for the worst disappointment would have been to miss 
the spectacle so nearly. 

Our return to Thingvalla was delayed a little by the 
circumstance that we travelled more rapidly than the 
King's caravan, and were several times obliged to draw 
aside from the path and halt, to avoid entanglement 
among the driven ponies. We stopped at the byre of 
MoUir to get a drink of milk on the way. The owner 
is evidently a rich farmer, for he has a wire-fence 
around his excellent grass land, and a patch of healthy 
potato-vines before his door. The guest-room was 
very small, but neat, and there was a glimpse of quite 
a comfortable bed-room behind it. But there was the 
same low, dark entrance, branching to stables, dwell- 
ing and store-rooms, as in all Icelandic houses, the 
same close atmosphere and thick, rank smell, which 
certainly account for the great mortality among the 
native children. 

The milk is equal to any in the world. I drank a 
great bowl of it, and gave the man a piece of money 
for his daughter, a clean, rosy girl of ten, with a string 
of artificial pearls around her neck. As I was about 
to mount he brought her out to thank me by shaking 
' hands, but when I claimed a kiss she gave it with in- 
nocent readiness. As we again crossed the high lava- 
field, which was blacker than ever under the shadow 
of clouds, it occurred to me that the landscapes of the 
moon must be similar in character. Blackness, bleak- 



ness, and the chill spirit of extinct flame mark the 
mountains of Iceland, and nowhere" does a grassy 
meadow or a bank of humble flowers seem worth so 
much as here. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE NATIONAL FESTIVAL AT THINGVALLA. 

Rejkiavik, Aug. 8. 
"D EACHING Thingvalla towards eight o'clock on 
■^^ Thursday evening, the wild valley had undergone 
a complete transformation since we left it three days 
before. The steep green slopes along the foot of the 
Allmannagja were dotted with little tents : four large 
pavilions, with several smaller ones, had been erected 
along the bank of the river ; on the Mount of the 
Law a flagstaff was planted, from which floated the 
ancient banner of Iceland, a white falcon in a blue 
field; while on the opposite side, towards the Axar 
cataract, the mound where the judges were proved of 
old bore a decorated tribune and the standards of the 
nations represented at the Festival. On the right 
floated the colors of Norway, England and the United 
States; on the left those of Denmark, Sweden, and 
the German Empire. The standard of France was 
placed beside ours the next morning, when Baron 
Letourneur and another French officer arrived. 
Groups of people were scattered all over the valley, 
or on the rocky, grass-topped heights ; flags floated 
in all directions, the smoke of camp-fires arose, 
shouts, greetings and songs resounded through the 



NA TIONAL FESTIVAL A T THING VALLA. 255 

air, — in short, in place of the former gloomy silence 
and solitude of the scene, all was life and joy. 

Riding close upon the heels of the King and his 
escort, we saw the groups of people gather suddenly 
to a crowd around the foot of the mound. It appeared 
that a body of twelve Icelandic bonder^ or farmers, 
selected for their appearance no less than their char- 
acter and standing, had ridden forward to meet His 
Majesty at the farm of Skyrcot — a little oasis in the 
lava-field, about a mile distant — and had escorted him 
to the place of the festival. Here, ranging themselves 
six on each side of the path, they made a sort of gate- 
way to the Thingvalla ground. The Chairman of the 
Committee, Fredriksson, made a short address of wel- 
come, which was followed by such loud and repeated 
cheers that many of the ponies took fright. Gov. 
Finssen was unhorsed, but the King, who is a most 
accomplished rider, sat firmly, patting his intelligent 
pony on the neck. Then twenty-four girls came for- 
ward, scattering the native flowers of Iceland — thyme, 
anemone, saxifrage, and geranium — in the Royal path, 
while the choir, posted on the lava rocks, struck up 
one of their solemn, soul-stirring chants. The Royal 
camp was pitched, as before, on the little hill in front 
of the church, but there was now quite a village of 
tents around it. This welcome was almost an im- 
provisation, but it was entirely successful, and struck 
a favorable key-note for the following day. 

Slowly making our way on our jaded horses through 
the friendly crowds, we fell in with Capts. Von Schro- 
der and Von Pawels of the German frigate Niobe, to 



256 ICELAND. 

whom we had offered the shelter of our tent for the 
occasion. The camp was soon made behind the 
church and beside the icy crystal of the Thingvalla 
spring. For the rest of the evening the greater part 
of the crowd ate, drank, and made themselves com- 
fortable. The Rejkiavik students sang their songs, I 
believe some speeches were made to various separate 
circles, but all the proceedings had a free, informal 
character. There was no darkness to cover us as with 
a cloak; somebody walked and somebody talked out- 
side, through the long nocturnal twilight, and we 
should have slept little but for the grevious fatigue left 
from the preceding days. 

Morning came and brought no sun. The fair 
weather was gone : a cold wind blew down from the 
central deserts of the Island, and the Broad-Shield 
Mountain, in the north-east, soon grew dim under a 
veil of rain. The plovers piped on the heather-covered 
ridges of lava, and the weird laughter of the loons v/as 
heard along the shores of the Thingvalla Lake. Our 
friend Magnusson came early with an invitation from 
the National Committee to breakfast with them and 
the Royal party in the pavillion at eleven o'clock. The 
exercises at the Mound of the Judges were to com- 
mence at ten, so, after taking coffee, I set out with our 
German guests to visit the famous Logberg, or Hill of 
the Law, where the Althing or Popular Assembly of 
Iceland was held for nearly nine hundred years. 

History states that when the independent chiefs who 
first took up the habitable part of Iceland found it 
necessary to unite and form a superior government for 



A^A TIONAL FESTIVAL A T THINGVALLA. 257 

all, they had some difficulty in selecting a suitable 
spot for its deliberations. In the year 930, Thingvalla 
was finally chosen, and no other spot, certainly, could 
have invested the Althing with such an air of awe and 
solemnity. The great lava plain of Thingvalla (or, in 
Icelandic, Thingvetlir) is rent by deep, tremendous 
fissures, in a general direction from north to south. 
One of these, on the eastern edge of the valley, forms 
almost an island, attached to the main mass of rock 
by a narrow natural bridge. It is about three hundred 
yards long, but not more than sixty or seventy feet 
wide at the broadest part. The summit is uneven, 
rising as you approach the further end, until its jagged 
pinnacles look down on either side into chasms one 
hundred and fifty feet deep, where a dark mysterious 
indigo-colored water flows onward, whence or whither 
no one can tell. The character of the place is more 
than savage : it is diabolical. 

Near the entrance one ancient Jarl was supposed to 
be able to defend the whole mount, since access was 
impossible at any other point. A part of the rock 
must afterward have given way and fallen across the 
chasm, for it is now bridged toward the other extrem- 
ity. The white falcon of Iceland flapped lonelike in the 
rain as we stood upon the mound where the forty-eight 
judges sat upon the middle bench, each with a deputy 
before and another behind him, making one hundred 
and forty-four in all. At first this mound was inclosed 
by a circle of hazle sticks, bound with the sacred cords 
or fillets. The Lawgiver, who was chosen for three 
years, directed the proceedings. After the year 999, 

17 



258 ICELAND. 

the Althing was opened on the Thursday between the 
i8th and 23d of June, and remained in session fourteen 
days. Since agriculture could not be carried on in 
Iceland and the raising of cattle required little labor, 
the men early acquired the habit of travelling to 
Thingvalla every year, so that finally many thousands 
of persons assembled in the valley, exchanged infor- 
mation, traded, feasted, and thus established a kind 
of National Fair. The civil and criminal cases were 
practically tried before the whole people, and whatever 
law was decreed went immediately into action. 

After Iceland fell to Norway, and then to Denmark, 
the form of holding the Althing was still observed, al- 
though it was scarcely more than an empty form. The 
meetings were held in the open air, as in the old and 
glorious ages, until the year 1690, when a wall of 
blocks of lava was erected and a canvas roof spanned 
over it to protect the delegates from inclement 
weather. Here Danish law was proclaimed to the 
people up to the year 1800, when the seat of justice 
was removed to Rejkiavik. Even the old wall has been 
taken away, and the Hill of the Law is now as bare 
and grand as when it witnessed the deliberations of a 
free people. 

I was surprised to remark that so few natives visited 
the place. Now and then a man, probably from some 
remote part of the island, climbed the uneven crest, 
and looked up in a vacant way at the ancient banner 
or down into the awful chasms of cold, swirling water; 
but the pavilions and flags, the music and the multi- 
tudes beyond the river were greater attractions. In 



NA TIONAL FESTIVAL A T THINGVALLA. 259 

truth, it was an uncanny spot, and I did not myself 
feel inclined to linger there longer than was necessary. 
By this time a light but steady rain had set in, and all 
but the hardened Icelanders moved toward the place 
of ceremonies in waterproof coats. After crossing the 
plank bridge which had been thrown across the river, 
the King was arrested by the formal address of the 
People of Iceland on the occasion of the Thousandth 
Anniversary. It was read by Herr Thomssen, of 
Bressastadr. Hearty loyalty, covering a strong ex- 
pression of the distinct desire of the people for in- 
dependence in their own government, characterized 
this as all the other addresses. The King responded 
briefly, there were cheers, the band struck up the 
Danish national anthem, and the procession moved 
forward to the mound. The people seemed to have 
lost, at last, their apathetic expression : their faces 
were bright and animated, they cheered lustily, and 
even we, who came last in the ranks, received our 
full share of greetings. 

The remaining ceremony consisted simply in the 
reception of commemorative addresses which had been 
fowarded to Iceland. The National Committee, with 
Fredriksson as President and Magnusson as chief ac- 
tive member, took their places on the tribune; the 
King and other high officials formed a circle below, 
on the slope of the mound, and the people scattered 
themselves to right and left, as they could best get a 
view. The four Scandinavian Universities — Copen- 
hagen, Lund, Upsala and Christiania — sent congrat- 
ulatory documents, inscribed on vellum and hand- 



26() ICE r. AND. 

somely bound ; societies of students in Denmark and 
Norway greeted their Icelandic (Pan-Scandinavian ?) 
brethren; the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen 
sent a testimonial to the effect that it considered 
Thorwaldsen an Icelander, and there were addresses 
from patriotic societies in Norway, which aim at re- 
viving the old Norwegian language so far as practica- 
ble — at least, preserving an idiom distinct from the 
Danish. Last of all, as being unofficial, the poetic 
greeting adopted by the Americans present and men- 
tioned in a former letter, was added to the other doc- 
uments. 

Half an hour was then devoted by the King to re- 
ceiving such of the people as desired to speak to him. 
His manner, as it has been from first to last, was ad- 
mirable — never lacking in true dignity, yet thoroughly 
simple, friendly, and familiar. He has evidently taken 
especial pains to meet the shy, democratic Icelanders 
half way, and has been more successful than he pro- 
bably suspects. The absence of the usual signs of 
profound respect among the people, often the stolidity 
of the man spoken to, the steady, unconscious stare 
of interest, so forgetful that his greeting is frequently 
not returned, must be quite a new experience for 
Christian IX. He cannot always quite conceal a fleet- 
ing expression of weariness or disappointment ; yet I 
am sure that he is every hour making friends in Ice- 
land. I have taken the trouble to ask as many of the 
people as can understand me, what they think of the 
King, and the one answer is: " He is very friendly, 
and we are sure he is honest.'' 



NA TIONAL FESTIVAL A T THINGVALLA. 261 

At the door of the large paviHon the chorus was 
stationed, and we had a new song — Minni Komuigs 
a Thiiigvelli, written by Jochumssonj to the grand old 
Danish air of " King Christian lays aside his Sword/' 
It was superbly sung, and the auditors were silently 
but very deeply moved. The following hasty trans- 
lation is the best return I can make the author for his 
courtesy in rendering a similar service to myself: 

THE king's welcome TO HINGVALLA. 
I. 
With strong foot tread the holy ground, 
Our snow-land's King, the lofty-hearted. 
Who from thy royal home hast parted, 
To greet these hills that guard us round ! 
Our Freedom's scroll thy hand hath lent us, 
The first of kings whom God has sent us, 
Hail ! welcome to our country's heart ! 

IT. 

Land's-father, here the Law-Mount view ! 
Behold God's works in all their vastness ! 
Where saw'st thou Freedom's fairer fastness, 
With fire-heaved ramparts, waters blue ? 
Here sprang the sagas of our splendor : 
Here every Iceland heart is tender : 
God built this allar for his flock ! 

III. 
Here, as in thousand years of old, 
Sound the same words, a voice unended, 
As when their life and law defended 
The spearmen with their shields of gold : 



262 ICELAND. 

The same land yet the same speech giveth, 
The ancient soul of Freedom liveth, 
And hither, King, we welcome thee ! 

IV. 

But now are past a thousand years, 
As in the people's memory hoarded, 
And in God's volume stand recorded 
Their strife and trial, woes and fears ; 
Now let the hope of better ages 
Be what thy presence, King ! presages, — 
Now let the prosperous time be sure ! 

V. 

Our land to thee her thanks shall yield, 
A thousand years thy name be chanted, 
Here, where the Hill of Law is planted, 
'Twixt fiery fount and lava-field : 
We pray All-Father, our dependence, 
To bless thee and thy far descendants, 
And those they rule, a thousand years ! 

At the close ofthe song we were ushered into the pavil- 
ion, and assigned places with the other foreign guests. 
The breakfast was substantial and sufficiently national, 
consisting of salmon, mayonnaise of fish, cold mutton, 
and excellent Rejkiavik bread, with claret, sherry, and 
finally champagne. It was, in fact, rather a dinner 
than a breakfast, or served as such for the Royal party. 
Thomssen of Bressastadr first arose and made a pleas- 
ant, semi-humorous speech in Danish. He repeated 
the old legend of the first discoverer of Iceland meet- 
ing a dragon, a bull breathing flame, and a giant 



JVA TIONAL FESTIVAL A T THINGVALLA, 263 

coming down from the mountains with an iron staff, 
all three of which the hero must overcome before he 
could possess the land ; and then, likening Christian 
IX. to the hero, left us in doubt as to wliom or what 
was typified by the three monsters. However, exact 
simile is not always required ; the compliment to the 
King found the Icelanders warm and prepared to receive 
it, and the end was His Hajesty's health, with nine 
tremendous cheers. The King returned thanks, with 
evident feeling, and gave as a toast: ^' Prosperity to 
sublinie Iceland ! " 

After a health to Queen Louise of Denmark, pro- 
posed by Chief-Justice Jonasson, our friend, Erik 
Magnusson made the speech of the occasion. It was 
in Icelandic, and I could only guess a little of its sub- 
stance, here and there ; but the rich rhythm and reso- 
nance of the ancient tongue were a delight to the ear. 
Its contrast with the previous Danish speeches was 
surprising. The natives present kindled and warmed 
as the speaker proceeded, until there was a burst of 
*' Bravo!" after almost every sentence. In fact, in 
spite of the open loyalty of the speech, it was power- 
fully calculated to arouse the national pride. Magnus- 
son spoke of the Icelanders as being themselves of 
Kingly blood, as obedient only to honor and honesty, 
and as claiming an equal measure of respect with that 
they yielded. His words were manly, not defiant : the 
very beginning of the address — '' Sir King," instead 
of '^ Your Majesty," — struck the old independent key- 
note, and the close, hoping that the second thousand 
years of Iceland's history might tind the same dynasty 



264 ICELAND. 

in power, was only uttered after a distinct declaration 
of what was expected from the dynasty in the mean 
time. 

This was a fitting close to the celebration. When 
we issued from the pavilion it was raining more dis- 
mally than ever. The horses for the King's party were 
in readiness, and by one o'clock they were in the sad- 
dles, meaning to reach Rejkiavik the same evening. 
The members of the choir went in advance to the AU- 
mannagja, and there, under the lava walls of the tre- 
mendous cleft, sang a parting song. One by one the 
calvacade disappeared around the corner of the sharp 
crest, and Thingvalla was left to the people of Ice- 
land. 

Near the national paviUon there was a large tent 
belonging to the merchants of Rejkiavik, then a second 
for the students, and a third for the mechanics. I 
looked into each of them in the hope of discov^ering 
some characteristic group, or haply of being invited to 
share in some festivity; but the owners were scattered 
over the valley, and only a few ladies had taken shel- 
ter from the rain. We climbed the rocks to get a 
view of the Axar-foss, and looked into the pool where 
witches and capitally-condemned criminals were 
drowned in the old days, then wandered back to our 
tent and waited, but without much confidence, for a 
change in the weather. 

I had several visitors during the afternoon. With 
one of them, a farmer named Halldar Bjarneson, I 
managed to infuse enough Icelandic words into Danish 
to have some conversation about the ancient sagas. 



A^A TIONAL FESTIVAL A T THING VALLA. 265 

He informed me that he was descended from Sigurd, 
the Dragon -slayer, and that Hradevald, a King of 
Denmark, twelve hundred years ago, was also his an- 
cestor in a direct line. Immediately after him came one 
of the few beautiful girls I saw in Iceland, the daugh- 
ter of a clergyman on the Breidi-Fjord, a thorough 
lady in her manners. She had studied English during 
the long Winters, but had never spoken the language; 
yet, in half an hour, with a little encouragement, she 
began to speak it very slowly and deliberately, yet 
with surprising correctness. 

There were to have been many more speeches and 
songs from the tribune on the mound, but the rain 
seemed to have disturbed the programme. After the 
King's departure, the people broke up into little com- 
panies, some of which were jolly enough, and all, I 
imagine, made the best of their situation. Our party, 
however, was already soaked to the skin, and we could 
do nothing else than crouch under our tent-covers for 
the rest of the day. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A NEW POLITICAL ERA FOR ICELAND. 

Rejkiavik, August 8. 
TN order to understand clearly the present political 
-^ situation — or crisis, if the word be not too strong a 
term — in Iceland, one should be familiar with the pre- 
vious history of the island. This is not easily accessi- 
ble, at least so far as its history under Danish rule is 
concerned ; but a few leading outlines will be sufficient 
to explain the gradual decay of the native energy of 
the people, and the loss of their prosperity. 

The original Government instituted by the first set- 
tlers was independent and rudely patriarchial in char- 
acter, rather than republican. The chiefs, who emi- 
grated from Norway, with their dependents and slaves, 
became Goder (a title combining the offices of priest 
and judge), and the Althing^ or Assembly of the 
People, rather represented their class interests than 
those of the whole population. Nevertheless, they 
were powerful enough and wise enough to establish a 
system under which there was tolerable equity for all, 
and which contributed to the national success of Ice- 
land. It was certainly a much freer and simpler sys- 
tem than had been previously known in Norway ; 
yet, even after the introduction of Christianity, blood 
revenge was permitted, and ambush, or the surround- 



A NEW POLITICAL ERA. 267 

ing of a house and burning of a whole family, was 
considered justifiable. 

The old accounts of the prosperity of the island 
seern strange to those who visit it now. During the 
the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, great quan- 
tities of luadmal (a coarse woolen cloth), furs, skins, 
eider-down, fish, oil, and tallow were sent to England 
and Norway, and exchanged for meal, timber, iron 
and steel implements, linen, fine cloths, and carpets. 
Many Icelanders visited not only the northern capitals 
of Europe, but also Constantinople, Rome, and Jeru- 
salem. As each returned, he was welcomed at all 
gatherings of the people, and was expected to describe 
his adventures. Family festivals occupied much of 
the spare time of the inhabitants. A marriage, 
birth, or death brought hundreds together, and they 
were often entertained many days. When Hoskulk 
died, nine hundred and sixty persons drank for four- 
teen days in his honor, and at Hjalke's funeral there 
were one thousand four hundred and forty present. A 
man named And, feeling his end appproaching, gave 
a grand feast, during which he distributed his prop- 
erty among his heirs, and bestowed rich gifts on all 
the principle guests. 

The young men held athletic matches, and strove for 
preeminence in bowling, riding, running, swimming, 
and skating. Chess was a favorite game, and songs 
were also sung for prizes. The Skalds wandered from 
house to house, singing the chronicles of the ances- 
tors, which were cut in runes on staves, to assist the 
memory, before the introduction of writing in Gothic 



268 ICELAND. 

characters. All these characteristics testify to a state of 
well-being among the people, which they have not pos- 
sessed for many centuries past. The internal feuds 
which so weakened them that voluntary submission 
to Norwegian rule seemed the least of many evils, 
was the first cause of their downfall. In propor- 
tion as the Icelanders lost their native energy and 
independence, they yielded the more easily to the en- 
croachments, first of Norway and then of Denmark, 
upon the rights at hrst reserved for themselves. 
The latter gradually disappeared, or were so cur- 
tailed that they barely continued to exist in form; and 
about the year 1660 the island virtually lost every ves- 
tige of independence. Denmark's rule was absolute, 
and there was no appeal from it. Even the few traders 
appointed by the Danish Government for the island, 
and allowed the entire monopoly of its commerce were 
Danes, not Icelanders. The people grew steadily 
poorer, and powerless in proportion to their poverty. 
This state of things lasted, with slight variations, for 
nearly two centuries. Some amelioration was granted 
by the Danish Government in 1845, but even then, 
and since then, Iceland was treated with less consid- 
eration than the Faroe Islands and other dependen- 
cies of Denmark. Nevertheless, here was a beginning 
which stimulated some of her patriotic citizens to 
bolder action. An agitation ensued which has not yet 
entirely ceased, although comparatively a great deal 
has been accomplished. The leader of the movement 
is Jon Sigurdsson, a name dear to the people of Iceland, 
although its bearer could not be present at this memo- 



A NEW POLITICAL ERA. 269 

rable anniversary. The Constitution which, as the 
King declared, he *^ brought with him," is mainly due 
to the persistent claims and representations of Jon 
Sigurdsson at Copenhagen. Copies of it were furnished 
to us; but I think it unnecessary to translate every 
clause in detail, and will here only give a brief resume 
of its most important features. 

The document is divided into seven parts, or chap- 
ters. The first of these, which contains thirteen para- 
graphs, deals with the relations between the King and 
Danish Government on one side, and the legislative 
assembly, or Althing on the other. The legislative 
power belongs to the King and Althing, the executive 
power with the King alone, and the judicial power 
with the judges. Iceland has no voice in Danish na- 
tional questions, since it is not represented in the 
Rigsdag at Copenhagen ; consequently it bears no 
part of the national expenditures. The highest power 
in Iceland belongs to the Governor, who is appointed by 
the King. Should the Althing have reason to complain 
of the Governor, the King decides in each particular 
case. [Although the Minister for Iceland is declared 
to be responsible for his acts, the King's power prac- 
tically neutralizes this clause.] ThcAlthing, called by 
the King, sits every other year, but only for six weeks, 
unless prolonged by Royal consent. A special session 
may be called for at the King's pleasure ; the latter 
may also prorogue the Althing, but only once a year, 
and for four weeks at a time. The King has power to 
dissolve the Althing^ in which case new elections 
shall be held within two months, and the new Assem- 



270 ICELAND, 

bly shall meet the following year. No decree of the 
Althing has the force of law without the King's con- 
sent, and if he fail to sign a bill before the next ses- 
sion of the body, the bill is null and void. The 
minor provisions of this first chapter harmonize with 
these leading features. 

Chapter II. relates to the Constitution oi\\\Q Althing. 
It shall consist of thirty deputies elected by the people, 
and six chosen by the King. The former hold office 
during six years, the latter retaining their places in 
case an Assembly should be dissolved. The Althing 
is divided into an upper and a lower house, the former 
composed of the six deputies appointed by the King, 
and six more chosen by the thirty elected members 
from out their own number. The lower house is thus 
formed by the remaining twenty-four members of the 
latter class. The other clauses of this chapter relate 
to the filling of vacancies and the civil conditions which 
make a citizen of Iceland eligible to election as a mem- 
ber of the Althing. 

Chapter III. defines the legislative functions of the 
two houses and their cooperative action. The regular 
Althing shall meet on the first work-day in July (un- 
less the King orders otherwise), in Rejkiavik. Each 
house has the right to introduce and pass bills; also to 
appoint committees for the investigation of matters of 
special interest, such committees having power to send 
for persons and papers. No tax may be imposed, al- 
tered or removed, except by course of law. The Al- 
thing has entire control of the finances of the island, 
which it must regulate by a biennial budget, with the 



A NEW POLITICAL ERA. 271 

condition that the salaries of the Danish functionaries 
(including the six members appointed by the King), 
take precedence of all other expenditure. The regu- 
lations in regard to the reading of a bill three times, 
to returning a bill from one house to another with 
amendments, to a quorum of members being present, 
etc., are similar to the parliamentary laws of other 
countries, and need not be repeated. Two-thirds of 
the members of either House constituting a quorum, 
however, it will always be possible for four of the 
King's deputies to prevent any legislation not agree- 
able to Denmark, by their simple absence. 

Chapter IV. contains clauses regulating the judiciary 
powers. 

Chapter V. provides for the State Church, the 
'^Evangelical Lutheran," but guarantees liberty of 
conscience to all the inhabitants. 

Chapter VI. embraces provisions relating to the 
freedom of the subject, the sanctity of home and 
private property, the freedom of labor, poor-laws, ele- 
mentary education, freedom of the press, freedom of 
association and assembly, rights of municipal govern- 
ment, taxation, and privileges of the nobility, which 
last, together with their titles, are henceforth abol- 
ished. 

Chapter VII. and last provides that propositions 
with a view to amending or adding to the present 
Constitution may be introduced either at a regular 
or an extraordinary session of the Althing. If such 
a proposition receive the necessary majority in both 
houses, the Althing shail be dissolved forthwith and 



272 ICELAND. 

a new election ordered. If the newly-elected Althing 
then accepts the same proposition without amend- 
ment, and the latter then receives the Royal sanction, 
it comes into force as part and parcel of the constitu- 
tional law. 

It will be sufficiently seen from this abstract how 
jealously the Royal prerogatives are guarded, and how 
carefully the Danish supremacy is provided for in a 
Government which professes to bestow a certain 
amount of autonomy upon Iceland. Yet, with all 
its illiberal and even despotic restrictions, the people 
accept the Constitution, for it is something. If noth- 
ing else, it is the beginning of that political education 
which they have utterly lost for so many centuries, 
and which alone can finally qualify them to obtain 
their just demands. The great service which Jon 
Sigurdsson has rendered to Iceland is not so much in 
the gift of this Constitution as in the fact that he has 
broken the long apathy of the people, persuaded 
them to ask, and secured them a result which means 
courage for the future, if not satisfaction with the pres- 
ent. In this sense the ist of August, 1874, is the 
opening of a new era in Iceland's history. 

Notwithstanding a common origin and so much of 
common legend and tradition, there seems to be a 
considerable gulf between the two races. They are 
certainly not attached to each other, for each is too 
proud to give more respect than is returned — in fact, 
each would willingly claim the largest share. I do not 
find that the Danish officials — even those who have 
been some years' on the island — take any pains to 



A NEW POLITICAL ERA, 273 

learn the language, or acquaint themselves with the 
deeper characteristics of the people. If my impres- 
sion is right, this is greatly to be regretted. With 
all their pride, their sensitiveness, their jealousy, and 
the rash, hot blood sleeping under their grave de- 
meanor, no people are more worthy the honest and 
unselfish friendship of their rulers. I have rarely, if 
ever, been so profoundly interested in a race. Not 
Thingvalla, or Hekla, or the Geysers — not the deso- 
late, fire-blackened mountains, the awful gloom of the 
dead lava plains, the bright lakes and majestic fiords 
— have repaid me for this journey, but the brief 
glimpse of a grand and true-hearted people, innocent 
children in their trust and their affections, almost 
more than men in their brave, unmurmuring endu- 
rance ! 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE RETURN TO REJKIAVIK AND VOYAGE TO 
SCOTLAND. 

Off Cape Rejkiances, August 9. 

HOW suddenly all has changed ! Yesterday morn- 
ing we were still at Thingvalla; this morning we 
are passing Cape Rejkiances, in storm and rain and 
driving scud, and Iceland is but a dim line of savage 
coast on the lee ! 

Our last night in the tent was rather dismal. A 
cold, steady rain being less a necessity to us than to 
the natives, even the closing shouts and songs of the 
festival could not entice us forth from our imperfect 
shelter, to seek the scene of rather confused jollitica- 
tion through mud and icy water and sodden turf. We 
huddled under the wet canvas, wrapped in rugs and 
blankets, and kept up a grim cheerfulness for an hour 
or two following dinner — after which all gradually 
dropped into audible slumber. The order was to rise 
at two in the morning, and start at three, so as to 
reach Rejkiavik by noon. I gave myself up to un- 
troubled rest, trusting to Mr. Field, who is never more 
in his element than when a start is to be made. 

The getting up in the damp, however, was dismal, 



THE RETURN TO REJKIA VIK. 275 

and the start was more easily arranged than accom- 
pKshed, for a batch of our ponies ran away and were 
not found for an hour or more. It was half-past four 
when our vanguard, leaving the baggage and two 
servants to follow with the guides, moved away past 
the church of Thingvalla, across the rising river, and 
into the chasm of the Allmannagja. The track had 
become simply horrible. All the fresh earth thrown 
upon it to make the King's way easy had been worked 
into a paste by rain and many hoofs. Our ponies 
slipped, stumbled and splashed, coating us with mud 
to the hips, while the ice-cold water, gradually soak- 
ing through the toughest leather, chilled both blood 
and marrow. Hardly had we climbed the Allmanna- 
gja, when a drizzle set in which soon became a rain 
and then a storm, and anything mere dark, forlorn, 
and cheerless than our journey it would be difficult to 
imagine. 

I have already described the scenery, and can only 
add that every fleeting charm of color imparted by 
sunshine and clear air h.ad vanished, and the entire 
gloom and sterility of the land became hideously ap- 
parent under such a sky. We jogged steadily onward, 
silent and much-enduring ; when we urged our ponies 
they stumbled, when we allowed them to walk they 
became discouraged. Hour after hour, across the 
broad, lonely terraces, the desolate lava-field with its 
cairns of stone, up and down the stony swells, around 
the angle of the isolated mountain, we pressed, until 
the meadows of Soljedal announced our half-way station 
to Rejkiavik. 



276 ICELAND. 

Here there was a brief halt, a change of riding 
ponies, and a division of a very scant supply of ship's 
biscuit and salt tongue. Three of our party had gone 
on, and we found them at the first farmstead, a mile 
or two further, waiting for the good-wife to make them 
coffee. The place looked prosperous, according to the 
Icelandic standard, yet the house was low, cramped, 
and far from clean. The rain leaked into the passage- 
ways, and the tangle-haired children, at nine o'clock 
in the morning, were still in bed. Formerly every 
tolerable house on the island had its bath-room ; now 
the guest-room is called (the old term being retained) 
the ** bath-room," and the bath has become an un- 
known feature of Icelandic life ! The general want of 
cleanliness gives rise to another plague of the country, 
which I need not describe more particularly, since our 
tent-life preserved us from it. 

Of course, the change for the worse in the habits of 
of the Icelanders is mainly owing to their poverty. It 
is singular that they developed a sturdy national life 
and a degree of literary culture, which is almost phe- 
nomenal during the darkest ages of Europe, and that 
the close of this illustrious period is nearly coeval with 
the beginning of the same development in England, 
Germany, and Italy. A good deal of the Icelandic 
decline is undoubtedly to be attributed to the com- 
bined neglect and oppression of the Norwegian and 
Danish rulers; but the material misfortunes of the 
island must not be overlooked, in the summary of 
causes. Iceland not only possesses twenty-five active 
volcanoes, but the most of them have sent forth erup- 



THE RETURN TO REyKTAVIK. 277 

tions of greater magnitude and destructive power than 
any others in the world. In a land where human life 
is supported on such a slender basis, the temporary 
annihilation of one of the two chief resources is equiv- 
alent to an inability to support life at all. 

A few hundred years ago, there was an extensive 
tract of fertile land around the base of the Skaptar 
JokuU, near the southern coast of the island, which 
is now a complete desert. The terrific eruptions of 
this volcano not only covered enormous spaces with 
lava, but destroyed all the cattle through a much 
greater extent of territory. The smoke sent forth is 
full of metallic dust, partly of copper, which poisons 
the pasturage wherever it falls. Wherever this occurs, 
famine is sure to follow, with pestilence as its natural 
accompaniment. In the year 1827, the Algerine cor- 
sairs came to Iceland, which did not possess — as it 
does not now— a fortification or a single soldier. They 
ravaged all places near the coast, where the greatest 
wealth was concentrated, and slaughtered a great 
number of the inhabitants. During the eighteenth 
century, there were eighteen periods of famine, and 
forty-three years during which all vegetable growth 
failed. In 1707, upwards of eighteen thousand per- 
sons died of small-pox ; and between the years 1783 
and 1785, volcanic eruptions, famine and failure of veg- 
etation reduced the population of the island from for- 
ty-eight thousand six hundred and sixty-eight to thir- 
ty-eight thousand one hundred and forty-two. Dur- 
ing this calamitous period, the scanty commerce of 
Iceland was wholly in the hands of Danish traders; 



278 ICELAND 

native enterprise was simply impossible, and it is easy 
to imagine how the spirit of the people became crushed. 
Helplessness and hopelessness are the surest causes 
of moral and material deterioration. 

So late as 1824-5 there was another dismal visita- 
tion of famine, and in 1827 epidemic diseases ravaged 
the island. At present, as I have already stated, the 
population is about seventy thousand more than it has 
been for two centuries. Notwithstanding the unusual 
fertility of the women, the number increases very 
slowly, owing to great mortality among the children: 
out of one thousand born, less than half reach the 
fourteenth year. Eighty-one per cent, of the popula- 
tion live by raising cattle, and only about ten per cent 
by fishing. In 1863 there were on the island five hun- 
dred and fifty thousand sheep, thirty-five thousand 
horses, and twenty-five thousand cattle, and the value 
of the trade with Denmark was estimated at a little 
more than $1, cod, 000. 

The first requisite for Iceland is an improvement in 
the physical and domestic lives of the people. The 
Winters are not very severe, and the habit of living in 
such close, reeking hovels of turf evidently originated 
in the cost of lumber and fuel. Coal, but of what 
quality I am not able to state, has been discovered on 
the island, yet it will be of little advantage until there 
are a few practicable main lines of communication. 
The fisheries around the coast, which might yield so 
much, are a source of much greater wealth to France 
than to Iceland ; there are, at this moment, five thou- 
sand French fishermen in these waters, with two fri- 



THE RETURN TO REJKIAVIK, 279 

gates in Rejkiavik harbor to take care of them. Pota- 
toes, beets, turnips, and many other vegetables might 
be cultivated to a much greater extent than at present. 
Wild fowl are very abundant, yet there seem to be no 
hunters. The temper of the people has come to be 
that of grim, patient, chronic endurance, and they have 
neglected even the few scanty sources of help which lie 
within their reach. 

We rode the remaining twenty miles to Rejkiavik in 
a dilapidated condition of mind and body. Instead of 
a gallant, compact cavalcade, with whistle sounding 
and banners advanced, the members of our party 
straggled along the road for miles, singly, or in mu- 
tually commiserating pairs. Captain Von Schroder, 
whose horse refused to carry him, was picked up by a 
merry company of Icelandic theological students, fur- 
nished with a fresh pony, and entertained with songs 
and wine at the last byre on the road. But the storm, 
fortunately, retreated and rested on the black northern 
mountains: the sun even came out, soon after we had 
forded the Salmon River. Then, the last vigor was 
called out of our ponies ; in trot and gallop we cleared 
the long, stony ridges, until, at one o'clock in the 
afternoon, all the comfort and civilization of the world 
seemed to beckon us, as we reached the beacon-tower 
of Rejkiavik and saw again the snug houses on shore 
and our floating home in the harbor. 

Invitations were waiting for a ball to be given the 
following (Sunday) evening. The Kmg was to leave 
on Monday morning, the characteristic festivities were 
already at an end, and we speedily decided to leave the 



28o ICELAND. 

next morning. A ball is a ball all over the world; the 
presence of so many strangers in Rejkiavik made it 
difficult to get fresh supplies, and the members of the 
more important families were growing nervous and 
unhinged after ten days of greater excitement than 
had been packed into the whole previous course of 
their lives. So, longing for rest after our week of 
chills and bruises, we yielded to the proposal of our 
leader and said good-bye to Iceland. 

Zoega and Geir took supper with us on board, and 
Eyvindur and Jon, hearing at a late hour of our pro- 
posed departure, engaged a boat and came off speci- 
ally to say farewell. I may add that Zoega's bill for 
the whole expenses of the inland trip was perfectly 
honest, although not even the cost of a single item 
was stipulated in advance. The boy Geir went away 
supremely happy with an armful of books, and a small 
present made the two guides our friends for life. The 
King, who had sent his captain during the afternoon 
to pay us an official visit in his name, entrusted us 
with his telegrams and letters for England and Den- 
mark; the French. Swedish, and German frigates sent 
us a considerable mail; and it was quite evident that, 
in being the first to depart, we were doing a service to 
all the others. 

Edinburgh, August 14. 

Thank Heaven there is something firmer than the 
waves of the Northern Ocean under my feet ! For 
four days our toy of a steamer (registered at 185 
tons) tossed and bounced on the lonely waters, 
leaking through the deck planks, until a state of 



THE RETURN TO REJKIAVIK. 281 

sodden misery seemed to be our doom. Mr. Glad- 
stone's Icelandic pony, on the deck, refused hay 
and water for two whole days; but Capt. Rowling's 
horn-budding ram, with a face like that of a mischiev- 
ous child, looked out of the door of a dog-house, and 
seemed to say : '' You've put me in a strange position, 
but I'm equal to it." Suavi iiiare inagiio — the line of 
Lucretius always returns to my memory with special 
force after such a voyage. 

We had had no observation for a day, and the strong 
currents in those seas are uncertain and perplexing; 
but our gallant captain, who stood by the pilot-house 
in the storm for fifty-one hours, found himself, in the 
dark of Thursday morning's twilight, just between the 
rocky islets of Rona — a sort of outer sentinel of the 
Hebrides. By six o'clock in the morning we reached 
Thurso, the most northern port of Scotland where 
Messrs. Field and Halstead decided to go ashore and 
continue their journey to Edinburgh by rail. The 
sea had become perfectly calm, soft blue sky greeted 
U3 for the first time since leaving Iceland, and all the 
aspects were so favorable that the rest of our party 
remained on board. 

Yesterday, in fact, was the pleasantest of the whole 
voyage. We passed the Pentland Firth, between the 
high Orkneyan cliffs of Hoy and John o'Groat's House, 
made a broad stretch across the mouth of Murray's 
Firth, and during the late afternoon ran down the 
Scottish coast, through fleets of fishing-craft, literally 
thousands in number. Warm air, level sea — *^ Sleek 
Panope with all her sisters played," — sight of trees on 



282 ICELAND. 

shore which we had not seen for a month, made the run 
dehghtful; but the night brought such a hurricane as 
has not been experienced for years. Pitchy darkness 
covered the water; the rain fell in sheets; a mass of 
diffused lightning descended directly upon our vessel, 
enveloping it in heat like that of a furnace, and the 
captain was obliged to heave to and wait till the first 
fury was over. This morning, nevertheless, we were 
safe inside one of the Leith docks. 

The end of our strange and adventurous journey 
occurred this afternoon. Having been obliged to ship 
as British seamen at Aberdeen, we must, of necessity, 
be formerly mustered out of the service before the 
Captain could be released from his obligations on our 
behalf. So we were summoned from Edinburgh to 
the Marine Office at Leith, where a certificate of dis- 
charge was gravely delivered to each of us, we wrote 
our names in a portentous folio volume, and then re- 
ceived, each, one shilling of Her Majesty's currency, 
as bounty. On examining my discharge, I was highly 
gratified to find that opposite to the record : ^' Cha»r- 
acter for Ability in whatever Capacity engaged," stood 
the written report, '^ very good," and against " Char- 
acter for Conduct," also ''' very good." 

If the readers of my chronicles are equally willing 
to sign this certificate, we shall now part as the best 
of friends. 

FINIS. 



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